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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BOISE, ID – JANUARY 29: Guard Marcus Dickinson #0 of the Boise State Broncos and guard Kaison Hammons #21 of the San Jose State Spartans (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /

10. San Jose State

The San Jose State Spartans finished this season as the Mountain West’s worst team and they are only giving up because of how brutal this offseason has been for Air Force. There was a decent-sized gap between SJSU and the rest of the conference at the end of the season and there still is between No. 10 and 9 because of SJSU’s losses.

Brae Ivey’s graduation and the losses of Zach Chappel and Christian Anigwe are going to hurt this team next year. Ivey led the team in assists and steals this year. Anigwe and Chappel were each solid contributors who played around 20 minutes per game.

I also don’t find their incoming class all that inspiring. Jalen Dalcourt should be a solid piece in their starting lineup, but he’s not enough to make up for the team’s losses. Sebastian Mendoza also has some potential to strengthen their lineup in the future, but the fact that his numbers actually went down during his senior year of high school makes it difficult to believe he’ll be contributing in a meaningful way right off the bat.

There’s always the chance that somebody on this squad develops to become a reliable second option alongside Seneca Knight, but until we actually see somebody else step up, it’s tough to picture SJSU putting up more of a fight this year.