23. Utah State Aggies - 12-1
Regardless of who is coaching the program, Utah State still finds a way to be competitive on a national level. With former Youngstown State HC Jerrod Calhoun, the Aggies have become the new favorites in the Mountain West. It started out with wins over Iowa and St. Bonaventure in the NIT Season Tip-Off, though they did suffer a setback by losing at home to UC San Diego.
What has Utah State in the top 25 now is what happened in the past couple of weeks. First, they defeated WCC power Saint Mary’s on the road 75-68, led by 18 points from Mason Falslev. Then, they followed it up to beat San Diego State on Saturday, winning a 67-66 thriller. Tucker Anderson was the hero with 14 points off the bench.
On the season, both Falsev and Ian Martinez are averaging over 17 ppg and 3.0 apg, with Falsev also leading the team with 6.3 rpg. Karson Templin (10 ppg) is another double-digit contributor, while Dexter Akanno has been a solid depth piece after transferring in from Oregon State.
Utah State has one more big road game to open league play, taking on Nevada. After that, they have Fresno State and San Jose State, which are games they’ll need to win to remain on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble picture.