Mountain West Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21

Mountain West Basketball: Way-too-early 2020-21 power rankings

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) /

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COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – MARCH 05: Caleb Morris #0 of the Air Force Falcons (Photo by Timothy Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /

A Mountain West basketball season full of unexpected twists recently came to an, so now is a perfect time to look forward to next season.

Things might not be as wild (and nothing can live up to the craziness we’ve all experienced over the last two months), but it should provide plenty of excitement for Mountain West Basketball fans. Let’s take a look at how this conference will look at the start of the year and what new surprises might be in store.

11. Air Force

Nobody in the Mountain West has lost as much as Air Force this offseason and that’s why they’re in dead last in these power rankings. They were surprisingly competent for most of this season, but they are going to have a very tough time even repeating their 9th place finish next year.

Three of their top four scorers have graduated and the other is now in the transfer portal. Those four players accounted for 64% of the team’s scoring this season and I don’t see any way for Air Force to replace that production next season.

This team leaned on its ability to knock down the 3 to stay competitive this year and losing players like Lavelle Scottie and Ryan Swan-Ford who they could turn to when they need somebody to knock down a big shot is going to make that more difficult.

Air Force is going to have a tough time being competitive unless they get a few players to step up in a big way. That’s just not something I see happening.