Currently unaffected by the latest round of conference realignment, Mountain West Basketball remains one of the best mid-major conferences in all of college basketball. MWC basketball gave us a pair of NCAA Tournament teams last season in San Diego State and Utah State, while Boise State and Colorado State were two teams that saw their bubbles popped in March. If last season was any indication, the MWC should be an exciting and competitive conference again, especially with some moves made by the other teams.
There are a few new head coaches in the conference, meaning some of those schools near the bottom of the league could look to make major steps forward this season. These programs are very familiar with each other, but there’s a lot of new faces on nearly every MWC team, with some of them seeing their rosters completely revitalized. With the college basketball season less than a month away, we’ll take a look at the current state of these programs and rank them as they stand in the preseason.
Anything can happen once play begins, though these rankings give us a baseline on what to expect from these eleven programs going forward. Without further ado, we begin the rankings immediately at the bottom.
Last year marked Joe Scott’s return to the Falcons, having previously led Air Force to the 2004 NCAA Tournament before his coaching career took him elsewhere. He was not warmly greeted back, leading Air Force to one of their worst seasons in recent memory, including a rough 3-17 mark in MWC play. When you consider that the number of new faces this season, it’s hard to see how these Falcons are going to take a big step forward in year two.
A big positive is that guard A. J. Walker returns, having led the Falcons with 15.3 points per game last season. Junior forward Nikc Jackson (8.2 ppg) will look to build on a decent season, but the rest of the rotation will consist of new faces or players who barely contributed last year.
This team was one of the very worst in the nation in rebounding, and they do add a crew of freshman forwards to the fray. Simply put, it’s hard to expect this program to take a major step forward with this roster, especially as they adjust to Scott’s attempt to rejuvenate the Princeton offense.