Mountain West Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2022-23 season

7. Boise State

Last year was a great one in Boise, as the Broncos finished 27-8, winning the MWC regular-season title and getting to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years. Coach Leon Rice has a knack for putting together squads that play well together, having won at least 18 games in all but two of his twelve seasons at the helm. This year, however, his team has a few important holes to fill.

Leading scorer Agu Kigab (14.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg last year) and talented guard Emmanuel Akot (10.6 ppg) are both gone, with the latter still sitting in the Transfer Portal. The good news is that the Broncos will return Marcus Shaver Jr., a talented guard and solid shooter. There will be big things expected from sophomore forward Tyson Degenhart in his second collegiate season, while former Texas Tech forward Chubuzo Agbo will compete for minutes from the get-go.

The Broncos did add a couple pieces to the rotation but are mostly expecting growth to replace Kigab and Akot’s impact on this team. The important thing is that Shaver is back and there’s still plenty of talent on this roster. This roster might not be built to win the Mountain West again, but Rice-coached teams have a knack for surprising us. We’ll just have to see how the pieces come together, but it’s really hard to see a repeat performance of last season.