NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top-25 power rankings for 2021-22 season

The Mountain West was focused on four teams this past season… San Diego State, Utah State, Colorado State, and Boise State who all were fighting for at-large positions. But there was a fifth team right below in the Nevada Wolf Pack, that got a few wins against the top tier.

And based on the departing and returning talent, there’s a real chance that the Wolf Pack can climb all the way to first next season. It helps that they’ll be returning First-Team star guard Grant Sherfield, who averaged 18.6 ppg and 6.1 apg last season after transferring in from Wichita State. Another effective transfer on the roster was Desmond Cambridge, a former Brown guard that posted 16.3 ppg on 35% from three-point range.

Oregon State transfer Warren Washington was a double-digit scorer in the frontcourt, while KJ Hymes and Tre Coleman served as great depth inside as well. Nevada does lose Zane Meeks to the portal but does bring in former top-50 big man recruit Will Baker from Texas, along with another key transfer in Addison Patterson from Oregon.

Head coach Steve Alford has copied the transfer formula from his predecessor Eric Musselman and in what was supposed to be a rebuilding effort turned into a highly competitive success story. And with so much talent graduating in the Mountain West, Nevada has a great case to make of being preseason frontrunners in the Mountain West. And if either Baker or Patterson can be effective next season, this will be a ranked team in 2021-22.