Mountain West Basketball: Final power rankings for 2019-20 season

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Sam Merrill #5 of the Utah State Aggies is names MVP after defeating the San Diego State Aztecs to win the championship game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 7, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Aggies defeated the Aztecs 59-56. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 22: Pyrotechnics shoot from the hands of UNLV Rebels (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

3. UNLV (+3)

UNLV’s season ended with a disappointing loss, but they had a strong run on their way to the conference tournament. They won five straight to end the regular season, including becoming the first team to beat San Diego State, shockingly taking them out at Viejas Arena. They also added wins against Colorado State, Boise State, and New Mexico in that 5-game run. They also shouldn’t be hurt by their loss in the conference tournament because they were clearly impacted by the absence of Elijah Mitrou-Long.

UNLV bounced around quite a bit in these power rankings throughout the season, but we learned at the end of the year that they belonged just a little bit ahead of where they finished in the actual standings. They clearly got stronger down the stretch of the season thanks to the development of their very young roster.

I went back and forth between UNLV and Boise State for this spot, but putting the two teams that beat SDSU this year as numbers 2 and 3 just made sense to me. I think we saw UNLV’s potential finally coming through at the end of the year and they should be set up well to be a real contender next season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them climb even higher than this when we reach this point next season.