Mountain West Basketball power rankings: Boise State, Utah State on the rise

The Mountain West Basketball season truly heated up over the last couple of weeks as two of the teams who were expected to be strong competitors in this conference finally started to look the part.

As has been the case all year, there was no question over who the top and bottom teams in Mountain West Basketball were, but there is quite a bit of debate to figure out everything in between. Let’s take a look at where those teams fit into this puzzle this week.

11. Wyoming (-)

Wyoming finally got their first win of the Mountain West season on Saturday, but that still isn’t enough to get them out of last place in the power rankings. That win at San Jose State was easily the most impressive performance they’ve put in all season, but it, unfortunately, followed a full month of losing.

You really can’t blame them for how things have turned out since the last set of power rankings, though. Their other two games over the last two weeks were at San Diego State and home against a resurgent Utah State. They just never had a chance in those 2 but took advantage of their opportunity against SJSU with a strong second half that propelled them to a 5-point win.

Unfortunately, they only get to play the Spartans once this season, so it’s really tough to figure out where they might actually be able to get their next win, but they could finally pull themselves out of the cellar of these power rankings if they can win any of the three games they’ll play before the next set of power rankings.

Those games include a home game against Boise State and a trip to Albuquerque next week and then a home game against Colorado State after a week off. I don’t expect them to win any of those, but if they can pull it off, they’ll be moving up for the first time this year.