2023-24 Mountain West Basketball Power Rankings: March 4

We are vastly approaching the conclusion of the 2023-24 Mountain West men’s basketball regular season, with just one week left! Five teams are within a game of each other for the top of the conference, so there’s still plenty that can happen over the next five days! Without further ado, let’s hop into our first March power rankings!

1. Utah State

Darius Brown II’s 30-foot game-tying buzzer-beater at the regulation saved USU from a bad loss Tuesday against Fresno State, winning 77-73 in overtime followed by a 12-point victory over Air Force. The Aggies control their own destiny for a share of the conference title this week. They will face SJSU on the road followed by their final home game against a struggling New Mexico.

2. Boise State

Boise State is arguably the hottest team in the Mountain West, crushing Air Force by 31 and subsequently cruising past Jaelen House and New Mexico. O’Mar Stanley had yet another 20-10 double-double and an additional double-double from Chibuzo Agbo. The Broncos face a tough test against Nevada followed by a road affair against San Diego State Friday.

3. Nevada

Speaking of Nevada, it is also one of the hottest teams in the MW. They have won five straight and eight of its last nine, including Jarod Lucas’ buzzer-beater heard around the world—one of the most memorable in program history. The Wolf Pack broke into a million pieces at this point last year and have shown more resiliency. But it does not get any easier, as it will face a daunting task against Boise before closing the regular season against ultra-feisty UNLV.

4. San Diego State

San Diego State would be a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season … so yes, them being No. 4 in their own conference is tricky. But the Aztecs— secured a 72-64 victory over SJSU behind Jaedon LeDee’s 22-point, 11-rebound performance—are still one game back in the loss column for the MW lead even though they’ll secure a bye.

5. UNLV

Believe it or not, UNLV is the final team just one game back of USU and Boise State … and would earn the conference’s final MW bye if it ended today. They have sneakily won four straight and nine of their last 10, securing an 18-point win over San Jose State Tuesday after an overtime finish against Wyoming. They will have two tough competitions this week, however, at home against SDSU followed by traveling to Reno to face intrastate rival Nevada.

6. Colorado State

After its chaotic, albeit unfortunate, loss Tuesday to Nevada, Colorado State split the week with an eight-point win against Wyoming, snapping their three-game win streak. Their NCAA Tournament odds became much more flimsy over this recent seven-game stretch, though it wasn’t enough to put them in official “bubble” territory due to their resume stacked up throughout the season. It closes the regular season with just one game this week against Air Force, who took CSU to overtime on Jan. 16.

7. New Mexico

After Saturday’s loss to Boise State, the Lobos have lost three of their last four and four of their last seven contests. It was their only contest of the week after its very disappointing defeat to Air Force. There’s still a runway for UNM to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large, but it needs a strong finish to the regular season coupled with a good MW Tournament — one where they will likely not have a first-round bye.

8. Wyoming

Wyoming suffered two tough losses to Colorado State and UNLV. They’re essentially locked into the 8-9 matchup against Fresno State in the MW Tournament. Wyoming’s losers of four straight and seven of their last eight, but will have a chance to have some momentum heading into next week’s tournament with a pair of matchups against Air Force and Fresno State.

9. Fresno State

The Bulldogs are losers of five straight and seven of their last nine. Though they provided two valiant efforts against two of the conference’s best in Utah State and Nevada, the latter of which netted the best game of Isaac Taveras’ young career. The 6-foot-5 freshman guard tallied 16 points—tying a team-high—in 18 minutes off the bench, shooting 8-of-11 from the floor with five boards, two assists and a steal.

10. Air Force

Air Force suffered a pair of 31-point and 12-point losses to Boise State and Utah State this week; it does not get much easier with a road date against Wyoming followed by Senior Night at home against a struggling Colorado State. The Falcons were able to limit the damage from beyond the arc against Utah State, but it surrendered 19 points from the charity stripe and allowed USU to shoot 22-of-33 inside the arc in Friday’s loss.

11. San Jose State

San Jose State’s only wins this season are against Air Force, but the Spartans are still at the bottom of our list after an eight-point loss to San Diego State followed by an 18-point loss to UNLV. They will face Utah State on Senior Night, which marks their only contest this week. They have lost five straight.