Mountain West Conference Basketball Updates & Power Rankings

Well, it seems to be slipping for TCU. And maybe coach Jim Christian always knew better.

Working with a completely overhauled roster in his first year, the Horned Frogs were the surprise story of the Mountain West Conference when they started 4-1. However, they have been reeling of late losing their last three games.

They have pretty much been getting mauled in the second half. In the losses to New Mexico, San Diego State and Utah, the Horned Frogs have lost the second stanza by a combined 30 points. Needless to say, those teams shot well above 50 percent. Utah was ridiculous shooting 59.5 percent.

Conversely, the Horned Frogs offense has stopped because they have shot 37, 30 and 39 percent in those games.

Not much was expected from TCU this season. And the quick start had people intrigued. But appears reality has set in. The good news is that senior forward Kevin Langford has still remained strong as he is still averaging around 14 points per game.

When will Air Force win?

Past the halfway point of the conference season, and the Falcons are sitting at 0-8 in conference play. That’s a little scary.

It’s no fun for any team to go through a conference season winless. But sooner or later, the winnable games left on the schedule are disappearing.

Not only have the Falcons been losing, they really haven’t been competitive either. They have lost their conference games by an average of 16 points, lost by 20 or more four times and scored fewer than 40 points twice.

The next three games don’t look very promising as the Falcons travel to San Diego State on Feb. 7, play host to New Mexico on Feb. 11 and then travel to Utah Feb. 14.

The only realistic chances are home games against Colorado State on Feb. 21 and Wyoming on Feb. 28.

The silver lining is senior forward Matt Holland who is averaging 11.6 points, shooting 50 percent from the field, including 45 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Briefly…

A measure of stability throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Utah’s program hit a snag in the middle portion of the decade. But the Utes appear to be pulling out of it. An 18-win season in 2007-08 and appearance in the College Basketball Invitation tournament helped the program. But at 15-7 and sharing the MWC lead with San Diego State at 6-2, the Utes appear to be back. The road to winning the title won’t be easy because there are road games to BYU and New Mexico. However, they do play host to UNLV and San Diego State….of its five losses, UNLV has three by 2 points. All five have been by eight or fewer….BYU has won its last two games without relying on Lee Cummard. He’s scored 17 and 12 points in them, but it’s not like the Cougars have needed him to carry the load.

Power Rankings

1. San Diego State
2. Utah
3. UNLV
4. New Mexico
5. BYU
6. TCU
7. Wyoming
8. Colorado State
9. Air Forces