Mountain West Notebook – A So-So Lobo Return

The view from the Mountain is about what you would expect at this point in the season. Collectively the Mountain West Conference is 52-20 as of December 7.

BYU has the only untarnished record at 8-0. One could argue that they really haven’t played anyone yet as their RPI is 81 and their strength of schedule is 287. The Cougars won’t get their first true test until Dec. 20 when they take on Arizona State in Tempe.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Colorado State is the only team with a losing record, as they sit at 3-5. But even they look to be an improved team this year. In their toughest contest to date, they lost by just one point to Tubby Smith’s Golden Gophers.

San Diego State (7-1) was crowned champions of the Great Alaska Shootout last week and got a big boost with the reinstatement of MWC First Team Player Lorrenzo Wade. A San Diego judge dismissed felony burglary charges against Wade, and he is now practicing with the team. He did not play in SDSU’s victory over cross-town rival USD on Saturday night, but he should see the court against Arizona on Wednesday night.

Wyoming is off to a 6-1 start and may have a more balanced and complete team this year. Last year the focus was all on their two standout guards, Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones. Now that Jones has graduated, Ewing has moved to the point guard position and wants to distribute the ball more and not just be the designated scorer from the two guard spot. It shows as the Cowboys have four players averaging double figures in scoring. With a stronger supporting cast, Ewing may get the opportunity he desires to refine his point guard skills and have a career in the professional ranks once his senior season is over.

The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels aren’t looking quite as dominant as many expected, and their 7-2 record shows it. They narrowly escaped with a win in their home opener versus the University of San Diego, even though San Diego had three key players on either suspension or out with an injury. After a couple of easy wins, the Rebels thought they were ready for a bigger test, but when the Bears came to town, the Rebels didn’t have an answer. First it was the Cal Bears, who defeated UNLV by 18 points. The next day, the Cincinnati Bearcats completed the sweep with a two-point victory.

The Air Force Falcons have one of the weakest out of conference schedules to date as indicated by their RP1 of 158 and Strength of Schedule at 226. They lost by 19 points to Stanford, the only team of significance on their pre-conference schedule. But at 6-2 and riding a three-game winning streak, they should rack up a few more wins this month and have some confidence going into conference play.

Utah (5-2) is an early season enigma. They have quality wins over Oregon, Missouri State and Mississippi but bad losses against Southwest Baptist on their home court and against Idaho State on the road.

The 6-3 TCU Horned Frogs are on a five-game winning streak and trying to prove that they are more than just a football school. They had a convincing 16-point road victory over Colorado on Saturday but will be further tested this week at home versus Wichita State before traveling to Indiana.

New Mexico (4-4) is still trying to find its rhythm in the absence of J.R. Giddens, who was last year’s MWC co-player of the year and then selected in the first round of the NBA draft. Tony Danridge, who missed all of last season with a broken leg, was expected to re-emerge as the team’s leading scorer and go-to guy. He led the team two years ago but has been inconsistent so far.

All indicators point to this being a better than average year for the Mountain West Conference, and there figures to be a considerable amount of parity. As teams take on a few more tough out of conference opponents in the next couple of weeks, we will start to see who rises to the top and whether they can hold onto that position by winning on the road.