When people think of great conferences out on the west coast, they think of the PAC-12, or maybe even the WCC, mostly it comes to Gonzaga and their success.
Allow me to discuss the Mountain West.
The league has been a fringe top-ten league in the country over the years, and has traditionally had one good team (I’m looking at you, late 2000s New Mexico and the past couple Nevada teams), but now there is multiple good teams in this league that have gotten national recognition and this is now a league that has the might to send multiple teams to the tournament. Right now, they are ranked 10th out of 32 conferences in KenPom rankings, one of 12 with a positive rating.
Coming into the season, it was Utah State that was supposed to be making the noise on the national level, stud senior Sam Merrill and other key pieces in Justin Bean, Alphonso Anderson and Neemias Queta to start the season ranked no. 17 in the nation in the preseason AP rankings, and jumped to as high as no. 15 after they got off to a 7-0 start before suffering a road loss to St. Mary’s. They are still off to a strong start at 13-4 and are sure to win a lot of league games.
Now, the team that is making the rankings now is San Diego State, which was not as expected. They are 15-0, now one of two remaining unbeatens in the country. Their biggest test so far this season came on Saturday night in a road game against none other than Utah State, on the road. They came out of it with a 77-68 victory in what will most likely end up being their toughest test of the season. At this point, it would not be overly shocking if they went undefeated through the regular season and conference tournament and potentially earn a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Aztecs have gotten to this point through having four double digit scorers, all of them upperclassmen, who all play a great style and compliment each other in the best possible way. Malachi Flynn is their best player, averaging just under 16 points per game, as well as Matt Mitchell, Yanni Wetzell and Jordan Schakel. According to KenPom they play the slowest tempo in the conference that stifles defenses and allows them to get good shots, and that leads to them making them.
Nevada, under first-year coach Steve Alford, has been a joy to watch so far this season and have made a very smooth transition to losing Eric Musselman to Arkansas, and the loss of their top three players from last year in Jordan Caroline as well as Caleb and Cody Martin. They are the second-fastest offense in the conference behind New Mexico and make their threes at a very good 38.6% clip. The Mountain West has traditionally been a league that favors fast offenses and good shooters, but having a three-point percentage is great, even for that. On top of that, they hold their opponents to a 26.3% from behind the arc, allowing them to limit triples as well as those all-important points in transition.
Jazz Johnson has filled a void nicely, as has Jalen Harris and Lindsey Drew as their new big three. Nisre Zouzoua is a solid depth piece and Zane Meeks is a freshman that they can build around to keep the program towards the top.
Like I mentioned before, New Mexico is another team that is similar to the Wolf Pack and can be a tournament team. They have the second-best offensive efficiency in the conference, behind Nevada, but have the fastest team in the league. Paul Weir has gotten the team running, and it has paid off, with a 13-3 start, but admittedly, a loss to perennial basement-dweller San Jose State on New Years’ Day throws a giant wrench into their at-large case, as did a loss to UTEP in November.
Not to be forgotten is UNLV, off to a 3-0 start in league play, which included a convincing win against Utah State, but the losses have piled up a bit for them as they sit at 8-8 currently, already close to too many losses to be seriously considered for an at-large bid.
Overall though, after a quiet couple of seasons that saw Nevada dominate the league, there are a couple different teams that can be challengers on the national level come March. It’s no secret that San Diego State is the best team in the league, but they will now see everyone’s best every night looking to pull off the upset.
However, the Aztecs potentially getting a top seed and seeing multiple at-large bids would be a great look for the league and allow the league to be taken seriously when it comes to the top non-power 5 conferences in college basketball.
AJ Hoops 