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

4. UNLV

This UNLV squad’s outlook has changed quite a bit since the end of the season. They already knew that they were losing four seniors, including Elijah Mitrou-Long. What they didn’t know is that they’d be losing Jonah Antonio, Amauri Hardy, Jay Green, and Donnie Tillman to the transfer portal.

Hardy, Tillman, Mitrou-Long, and Antonio were responsible for 42 of the team’s 72 points per game this season and now the Runnin Rebels will need to hope that their incoming players can make up for that, There are eight newcomers who will be eligible for this year, but it’s tough to know what they will be able to provide.

Two of them are JUCO transfers who UNLV will be hoping can step right into the rotation, but it should be a little while before the six freshmen can be relied upon for consistent production. It’s ironic that youth was a strength of this program just a couple of months ago.

The reason I believe this team will still be a top 4 Mountain West squad is that Bryce Hamilton is back. A lot of teams in this conference lost their stars, but UNLV kept theirs. Beyond that, Hamilton made such a huge leap this year that it’s exciting to think about what he could become next year.

It’s safe to assume that Cheick Mbacke Diong and Marvin Coleman will slide into bigger roles next season to support Hamilton, so UNLV just needs a couple of their newcomers to step up to remain near the top of the Mountain West. I think they’ll find the firepower to reach that level and should be a dangerous team in the conference tournament after this team has had some time to develop.