2023-24 Mountain West Basketball Power Rankings: March 18

It was a very action-packed weekend in the Mountain West, which included a historical run in the Mountain West Tournament followed by ... surprisingly disappointing seeding for the NCAA Tournament?!?! Before the big showdowns, let’s dive into our post-MW Tournament Mountain West Power Rankings!

1. New Mexico

You can’t help but lead with the Mountain West Tournament champion Lobos for this week’s rankings. New Mexico entered the week on the bubble ... and exited champions. They put together a run we’ve never seen before in the Mountain West tourney: Winning four games in four days. They scored their fifth MW tournament title in program history—one that was well deserved spearheaded by All-MWC guard and tournament MVP Jaelen House, who averaged 23.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.3 steals on 45.6/33.3/92.0 (57.6 TS%) shooting splits across the four games.

2. San Diego State

San Diego State put together an unbelievable fight last week, but couldn’t seal the deal late against New Mexico. They were able to dig out of holes against UNLV and Utah State—and nearly did again Saturday—but ultimately ran out of gas against one of the most talented squads on the West Coast in New Mexico. Nevertheless, they look to make another deep March run in arguably the toughest region, beginning with No. 12 UAB Friday.

3. Utah State

Utah State, the conference’s regular-season champion, completely fell apart after owning an early 17-point lead against SDSU Friday evening. They couldn’t find any rhythm offensively once the Aztecs built momentum and clanked 13 of their last 14 shots. They deserved a better seed than they were handed (like four others, including UNM), but Friday’s unraveling was an unusual showing for a team that found ways to win close games all season.

4. Colorado State

An unfortunate calf strain to Isaiah Stevens—coupled with its inability to make shots (6-28 3P)—was Colorado State’s demise against New Mexico. That came after beating a surging (albeit banged up/reportedly ill) Nevada team, who were winners in 10 of its previous 11, for the first time this season. The Rams were surprisingly dubbed a Last Four In team, and if Stevens is at least 85-90 percent healthy, they could give Tony Bennett and Virginia a tough fight, where possessions will be at a premium.

5. Nevada

Nevada was the hottest team entering last week’s tournament, but got bounced in their first game (quarterfinals) against No. 7 Colorado. The Wolf Pack were reportedly suffering from the flu bug while missing sharpshooter Hunter McIntosh (knee), one of the hottest shooters in America (20 for his last 28 from 3-point range; 71.4 percent) in the five games prior. A week of rest should do wonders for Nevada, who are 2-6 in postseason tournament games under Steve Alford with a tough test ahead against DaRon Holmes and No. 7 Dayton.

6. Boise State

Arguably no team in the Mountain West—outside of Nevada and maybe Utah State—got hosed more with its seeding than Boise State with its NCAA Tournament seeding; you can make arguments for all five teams not named SDSU, honestly. Boise State, who lost a hard-fought game to New Mexico in the quarterfinals, was a Last Four In team after earning six Quad 1 wins—including a MW-most four Q1-A wins—with a top-30 non-conference strength of schedule. The committee messed this one up.

7. UNLV

UNLV ended the 2023-24 season winning 10 of its last 13 games, but suffered a tough 74-71 overtime loss to San Diego State in the quarterfinals without forward Kalib Boone for practically the entire game. Dedan Thomas Jr. was phenomenal, scoring 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including hitting the game-tying buzzer-beating teardrop at the end of regulation to send it into overtime. The Runnin’ Rebels are the only other MW team to earn a postseason bid, as they will play in the NIT against No. 2-seeded Princeton Wednesday with a chance to play Providence/Boston College.

8. Fresno State

In mid-January, Wyoming wrestled back from a 12-point deficit to Fresno with less than 10 minutes left and secured a one-point win; on Wednesday, Fresno State battled back down nine with 4:36 left and earned a four-point win over Wyoming ... who beat them by 39 just days prior. Fresno followed up by taking top-seeded Utah State to overtime for the second time in a matter of weeks, but got outscored 17-5 over the final five minutes—failing to score a single point until 50 seconds left in overtime—and losing 87-75. There will be a new change of direction next season with Fresno State mutually parting ways with Justin Hutson, whose contract expired at the end of the season.

9. Wyoming

Valiant efforts from Akuel Kot, Sam Griffin and Brendan Wenzel was not enough to earn the win over Fresno State, especially after blowing a nine-point advantage late in the game. It got outscored 44-33 in the second half and 12-1 over the final 3:21. It marked their second Quad 4 loss of the season, ending the year losing five of their final seven and eight of their final 11 contests.

10. San Jose State

San Jose State gave Colorado State a fight, but lost by 10 in the opening round Wednesday. They end the 2023-24 season losers of seven straight and 17 of their last 19 ... at least they beat Air Force twice, right?!?!

11. Air Force

The Falcons lost to by 26 to New Mexico, who dominated practically wire-to-wire ... at least AFA can say they lost to the tournament champs?!?!