Mountain West Conference Basketball Weekly Recap

Scores

Monday, January 2

Fresno State 72, Boise State 59

Tuesday, January 3

New Mexico 98, Houston Baptist 61

Air Force 83, Johnson and Wales 53

Wyoming 76, Utah Valley 70

Wednesday, January 4

TCU 78, Rice 74

Thursday, January 5

UNLV 89, Cal State Bakersfield 57

San Diego State 83, San Diego Christian 52

Friday, January 6

Air Force 68, Chicago State 54

Saturday, January 7

New Mexico 85, North Dakota 57

Colorado State 87, Nebraska Omaha 63

There weren't a lot of games played in the Mountain West Conference this past week, and what's more is that this conference - which is undergoing such a profound amount of flux in its off-court administrative realms - engaged in a lot of cupcake baking when it did take the court as a collective whole. It was the first week of January, but clearly, the machinations of conference basketball did not yet begin in the Rocky Mountain region. New Mexico played Houston Baptist. Air Force played a non-NCAA school, Johnson and Wales. Wyoming took on Utah Valley. San Diego State - somehow ranked 25th despite a home-court loss to Creighton earlier in the season - played a non-NCAA school as well in the form of San Diego Christian. Air Force hosted Chicago State, a decidedly downmarket opponent. New Mexico - after hosting the aforementioned Baptists from Houston - then welcomed North Dakota to the Pit. Colorado State played an obscure directional school, Nebraska Omaha.

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We're waiting to see if New Mexico's wins over New Mexico State and Saint Louis from late December will remain indicators of the Lobos' overall quality. We're waiting to see just how the departures of BYU and Utah will affect the trajectory and shape of the Mountain West season. We're still waiting to see how Colorado State will fare in a thinned-out league that offers more chances for advancement up the ladder, but fewer opportunities to register high-quality wins en route to a possible NCAA Tournament bid. If there's any team which seems like a lock for the NCAA Tournament right now, it's UNLV. The Rebels have a resume that's loaded with huge wins, especially that mileage-carrying win in late November against mighty North Carolina, but this past week, we didn't get to see how UNLV would fare against the rest of the Mountain West. The Rebels - like the other programs in the MWC - faced an unchallenging foe in the form of Cal State Bakersfield. Fans will simply have to wait one more week for the Rebels to go up against San Diego State in one of the matchups that will begin to give life to the Mountain West season.

For now, though, it's still a guessing game. The absence of any big story - or any five-star throwdown - was the precise story which defined the first full week of January in the realm of Mountain time zone collegiate basketball.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer