24. Utah State (14-1)
In recent years Utah State has been one of those sneaky teams that seem to be right there despite changing coaches and rosters on a near yearly basis. The Aggies are continuing that trend with some great play this season. Their lone loss came over a month ago at South Florida and was regrettable, but they’ve looked the part as one of the top mid-major teams in the nation and are hoping to nab an MWC crown in the coming months.
That journey continued on Tuesday with relative ease, as the Aggies prevailed 99-62 at Air Force in one of their best offensive showings of the year. MJ Collins Jr. led with 20 points while Kolby King played great with 15 points off the bench. Their weekend showing was just as grand, as Utah State went to Boise State and won 93-68 over the Broncos. Collins starred yet again, this time with 25 points in another key road win.
With a 5-0 start to league play, Utah State is in exactly the position that they want here nearing the midway point of January. The Aggies have looked great in these wins over their league rivals, boast impressive metrics, and have found different ways to win these important games. Moving forward, there’s clearly very little margin of error in a league like the Mountain West so we’ll see how the Aggies respond against Nevada and Grand Canyon.