Mountain West Conference Basketball Update & Power Rankings

Although trading stocks can be a precarious idea these days, it’s pretty easy to identify where which Mountain West Conference team’s stock is rising and which team’s stock is falling.

The former is New Mexico. The latter is San Diego State.

Two weeks ago, the Lobos did not appear to have much of a chance to make the NCAA tournament. But a stretch in which they won five of their last six has put them at 18-10 and in tie for second place with BYU at 9-4.

New Mexico still has a lot of work to do to try and get into the tournament. The Lobos play two of their final three road games on the road at Colorado State and at Wyoming. But they do get conference leader Utah March 3 at The Pit.

Not surprisingly, the run is triggered by senior Tony Danridge. He has averaged more than 20 points in his last five games.

For the Aztecs, the season may have started to spiral on them when they got caught in New Mexico’s trap and lost in Albuquerque, 75-49. San Diego State has lost three out of its last four and really hasn’t looked sharp in doing so. The Aztecs have lost by double figures in those three losses. At 18-8 and 8-5 in conference play, the Aztecs already had a shaky tournament resume. Now, this dry spell may have sealed their fate.

UNLV holding on

The Runnin’ Rebels are at 20 wins and have a win over MWC leader Utah. But things are getting more clouded for the Rebels.

Following their 70-60 loss at the Utes, UNLV watched its conference record drop to a very marginal 8-6. Player of the Year candidate Wink Adams is really struggling from 3-point range as he is shooting 26 percent.

But the New Year’s Eve win over Louisville changed the perception of what the season could become. However, there have been some bad road losses to TCU, Wyoming and Colorado State, teams that are going to finish in the second division.

Plus, the Rebels finish the regular season March 7 at San Diego State. The problem is that the Rebels are 2-5 on the road in conference play. Plus, they are not streaking. They are 3-4 in their last seven games.

UNLV has gone to the tournament in part because it plays the conference tournament at The Thomas and Mack Center. It appears the Rebels are going to need another run like that to get there.

Briefly…

BYU just surpassed UCLA as the top shooting team in the country. The Cougars are at 50.6 percent, while the Bruins are at 50.3. Utah isn’t bad either as it is tied for 10 th at 48.8 percent….Wyoming picked up its first road conference win on Feb. 25 at Colorado State.

Power Rankings

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