2023-24 Mountain West Basketball Power Rankings: February 19

We are now less than three weeks away from the conclusion of the Mountain West men’s basketball regular season! March is vastly approaching! We had yet another exciting week of Mountain West hoops ... which resulted in another shift among the top-7! With that said, let’s hop into this week’s power rankings!

1. San Diego State

San Diego is back atop the conference after picking up two crucial Quad 1 wins against Colorado State and New Mexico. The Aztecs now own a share of the MW regular season lead with Utah State, who it will face on the road Tuesday. SDSU bested Utah State at home on Feb. 3 by 14 points, where it converted on nine of its 20 3-point attempts while finishing a plus-nine on the glass.

2. Colorado State

After getting shelled in the second half Tuesday by San Diego State—getting outscored 41-11 after leading by 14 at halftime—the Rams picked up a dominant home victory against Utah State. Colorado State has still yet to lose a MW game at home, outscoring opponents by 80 points over seven games (11.7 ppg), including 17.3 points over their last three games.

3. Utah State

The Aggies have lost three of their last five, including getting boat raced Saturday against Colorado State, which drops them a spot in this week’s rankings. They still own a share of the MW lead, but it could gain a huge advantage this week with a win over San Diego State, who’s 1-4 in their last five true-road contests.

4. Boise State

The Broncos moved a-half game back of USU and SDSU with their dominant 24-point win over Fresno State Saturday, snapping a two-game skid. They were able to convert on 20 of its 27 shots inside the arc and nailed 10-of-24 from distance . Four of Boise’s five starters had at least 12 points, led by Tyson Degenhart, who doubled up that mark with 24 points on 6-of-8 shooting with nine rebounds—four coming on the offensive glass.

5. New Mexico

After Jamal Mashburn Jr. saved the day late on Tuesday against Nevada—knocking down two straight 3-pointers, including the eventual game-winner with 20 seconds left—New Mexico suffered an 11-point loss on the road against San Diego State. They are still within reach of a Mountain West regular season title, but the odds are slim (teamrankings.com gives it an 10.7 percent to win, the fourth-highest odds). UNM, who’s lost three of their last five, still have to play Colorado State, Boise State and Utah State—the latter two coming on the road—to close the regular season. It must go at least 2-1 in those games and hope for some additional luck if it wants a share at the crown.

6. Nevada

Despite trailing for most of the game—including by nine with 5:07 left—Nevada rallied back to secure a 69-66 victory over intrastate rival UNLV Saturday. It granted the Wolf Pack their first Quad 2 win of the season and the sixth combined Quad 1-2 win this season. They’ve helped their tournament odds over the last few weeks, winning four of their last five with three Quad 1-2 wins. But it must take care of business down the stretch to avoid a(nother) heavy sweat on Selection Sunday.

7. UNLV

UNLV was a game away from the MW lead heading into Saturday night, but could not close out the Pack on their home court Saturday evening, snapping its five-game win streak. UNLV is still one game out of the loss column for the conference lead and will have three of their final six against respective Quad 1 opponents: Colorado State, San Diego State and Nevada. It’s played spoiler before, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that occurred again.

8. Wyoming

Wyoming picked up a five-point win on the road against San Jose State Saturday night after slipping away late against Utah State during the week. The Pokes led by 14 at halftime and by 10 with less than seven minutes left, though the Spartans trimmed it to one with 1:26 left. A crucial basket from Mason Walters followed by four free throws from guard Sam Griffin, who finished with 20 points, was enough to earn the five-point victory. They’re now .500 in conference play, but will travel to Reno this week to take on Nevada, who it beat by five on Jan. 20 in Laramie.

9. Fresno State

The Bulldogs began their stretch of five straight Quad 1 games with a 24-point loss to Boise Saturday. Their only four conference wins have still come against Air Force and SJSU. Fresno will have upcoming battles against San Diego State, Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico before closing the season against Wyoming, their most winnable game. We’ll see if they can squeak out at least one more victory ahead of the MW Tournament.

10. San Jose State

San Jose State snapped its seven-game skid with a seven-point win over Air Force Tuesday, sweeping the season series against the Falcons. They have yet to earn a MW victory otherwise. SJSU nearly completed a double-digit comeback victory Saturday against Wyoming, but their biggest problem persisted yet again: Its inability to close games. They now end the season with five straight Quad 1-2 games, beginning with a road date against Boise State Tuesday.

11. Air Force

Air Force has lost six straight, including a seven-point defeat to SJSU in their lone game of the week. After falling behind by 16 with less than six minutes back, AFA quickly cut it to seven with three minutes left, but couldn’t cut the deficit to two possessions down the stretch. While Rytis Petraitis, Beau Becker and Ethan Taylor (despite an inefficient game) are playing well, the Falcons have lost 14 of their last 15 and will close the season with four of their six against Quad 1-2 opponents.