Mountain West basketball power rankings: Aztecs, Aggies in rightful place

Mountain West Basketball power rankings: Utah State, Nevada rises on up

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Matt Mitchell #11 of the San Diego State Aztecs cuts a piece of the net after defeating New Mexico Lobos 82-59 in a game at Viejas Arena on February 11, 2020 in San Diego, California. San Diego State Aztecs moves to 25-0 for the season and clinched a share of the Mouintain West Championship. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

8 of 11

BOISE, ID – DECEMBER 12: Boise State Broncos (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /

4. Boise State (-1)

Boise State had a couple of chances to improve their place in the conference over the last two weeks but fell short on both occasions. They played a road game against Utah State and a home game against San Diego State and a win in either of them likely would have pushed the Broncos into the 2nd spot in the power rankings. Unfortunately, they lost by nine against Utah State and were beaten by 17 by the Aztecs in a game where they rarely looked like they had a chance.

They earned a convincing home win against Air Force and a road win over Wyoming which helped them not to drop too far this week. They are also helped by the fact that it’s really difficult to punish a team too much for losing on the road against the #2 team in the conference or losing anywhere against the country’s last undefeated team.

Boise State finds itself in a situation similar to that of Colorado State over the next couple of weeks. Games against New Mexico and San Jose State don’t really offer much upside, but should at least allow the Broncos to protect their record. They also have a road meeting with UNLV that would help their standing with a win.

This Boise State team is starting to look like the one everybody expected right from the start of the season (and like the dark horse I picked in the Mountain West roundtable). If they can get Derrick Alston Jr, Justinian Jessup, and Roderick Williams all playing well at the same time, then they could still be that team to pull off the miracle March run.