Mountain West Conference 2003-04 Recap
by John Eisel
Mountain West Conference Early Season Power Poll
1. New Mexico (10-1) Preseason Rank: 4
We find out what the Lobos are all about against the Demon Deacons.
What we liked: They’re beating the teams they’re supposed to beat, and soundly.
What we didn’t like: They were considerable favorites in all of their games, except at Oregon. Their strength of schedule is laughable.
Best win: 77-58 vs. Tennessee. Not a marquee win, but the Lobos haven’t played any marquee teams. It will help the RPI, as the Volunteers have played North Carolina and Texas.
Worst loss: 69-65 at Oregon. Easy choice. If the Lobos had pulled this off, they would have already been in the top 25.
Why fans should be excited: Your team is 10-1 with arguably the best player in the conference with Danny Granger.
Why they should be worried: The Lobos only play half their conference games at home, and despite the early season scores, the MWC teams will provide a much bigger challenge.
2. Utah (7-3) Preseason Rank: 2
The Utah fans haven’t seen scores like this since football season.
What we liked: Andrew Bogut is tearing everyone up, Marc Jackson looks like he hasn’t missed a beat and the Utes are still playing good defense.
What we didn’t like: The Utes are missing a marquee win. Beating either Washington or Arizona would have done it, but wins slipped by. With how weak the conference looks this year, a great win is more important than ever to get into the NCAA Tournament. The problem is that the only name teams left on their OOC schedule is Colorado and LSU, with neither getting a sniff of the Top 25.
Best win: They beat Stony Brook, High Point, Furman, Southern Utah and Northern Colorado. Take your pick.
Worst loss: 67-62 at Arizona. Losing by five points at the No. 15 team in the nation is good, but they missed a huge opportunity here.
Why fans should be excited: The Utes seem to have adapted well to Ray Giacoletti’s system, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t get better as the conference season comes around.
Why they should be worried: With the exception of that ambush up in Logan at the hands of the Aggies, Utah has looked good in every game. The only thing Ute fans should worry about is whether being at the top of the conference will be good enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament.
3. UNLV (4-4) Preseason Rank: 1
Everyone expected more out of the Rebels.
What we liked: The Rebels are competitive with the best teams in the country.
What we didn’t like: The Rebels are giving up 76 points a game.
Best win: 91-87 (OT) at Auburn. A good road win.
Worst loss: 64-54 to St. Mary’s (CA). The conference favorite cannot lose to St. Mary’s of California. Or St Mary’s of any other state.
Why fans should be excited: The Rebels have a ton of talent, but there are new faces and a new coach. Give it a little bit of time and see what happens when the Rebels gel.
Why they should be worried: Lots of expectations, lots of offense, not a lot of defense. The Rebels have heard this before, and it winds up sending them to the NIT.
4. Wyoming (5-3) Preseason Rank: 8
Everyone who picked the Pokes to finish last (including me) is looking foolish right now.
What we liked: Jay Straight isn’t doing everything and the Pokes are winning on the road.
What we didn’t like: Wyoming is getting hit with injuries again, with Steve Leven and Dion Sherrill both missing substantial time already. Well, better now than during the conference season.
Best win: 68-64 at Creighton. This will help the Cowboys down the road as the Jays were 8-1 going into the game.
Worst loss: 64-61 vs. Kansas State. Wyoming should have pulled this game out, but completely fell apart in the last two minutes of the game.
Why fans should be excited: The Cowboys will get back Leven from injury and hopefully Jarrod Boswell from academic purgatory to a team with no personnel deficiencies.
Why they should be worried: They’ll have a lot of close games in MWC play. They need to play more like the Cowboys against Creighton and not like the Cowboys against Kansas State. No one is sold the Pokes are over their erratic play from last year.
5. Air Force (6-3) Preseason Rank: 3
Remember when 6-4 was a great start for the Falcons? An NCAA Tournament appearance does wonders for expectations.
What we liked: Opponents are turning the ball over five more times a game than Air Force. When rebounding is just a good idea, getting as many possessions as possible is crucial.
What we didn’t like: The Falcons are next to last in assists in the league. If Air Force didn’t run a pass-first, unselfish offensive system, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Best win: 80-36 vs. Ole Miss. Decent win, but not going to raise any eyebrows.
Worst loss: 66-59 (OT) at Lamar. This is an awful loss on multiple levels.
Why fans should be excited: The Falcons had an awful loss last year and still made it to the NCAA Tournament. People will forget the Lamar loss in a hurry if they can pull the upset at Iowa Dec. 28.
Why they should be worried: The Mountain West Conference is not as good as last year. Winning the regular season conference outright will not get a team into the NCAA Tournament all by itself. The Falcons must beat some good out of conference teams if they want to go back to the Big Dance.
6. Colorado State (6-4) Preseason Rank: 5
The Rams should be better than this.
What we liked: The Rams top the league in blocked shots, 3-pt field goal shooting percentage, 3-pt shooting defense, field goal percentage defense and are second in scoring.
What we didn’t like: Take the stats with a grain of salt. Take out the Non Division-I schools, and the Rams are 3-5, with a win against Northern Colorado, which is making the transition to D-I this year. They’re also turning the ball over 3.33 more times a game than their opponents.
Best win: 72-62 against Drake. Drake is 2-4.
Worst loss: 79-76 (OT) against Auburn. The Rams had losses against bad teams, but this could have been a great win on the road against a good SEC team that had humiliated Colorado State last year.
Why fans should be excited: Matt Nelson appears relatively healthy, playing in eight of nine games and Matt Williams is making an early case to be on the All-MWC team at the end of the year.
Why they should be worried: The Rams haven’t shown they can win on the road or beat a decent team, let alone a good team.
7. BYU (2-8) Preseason Rank: 6
Let’s see if their horrid early-season schedule will damage the young team’s psyche.
What we liked: Mike Hall is in the top 15 in the league in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, 3-pointers made and of course, minutes played.
What we didn’t like: The Cougars are barely shooting .400. For baseball, that’s good, not basketball.
Best win: 90-77 vs. Boise State. It was either this or their blowout against Chaminade. Maybe I should have gone with the Chaminade win.
Worst loss: 64-61 to California. A comeback try falls short and their 18-game home winning streak ends. Ouch.
Why fans should be excited: I’m not sure if any other team in this conference would have done much better with BYU’s record. This team is young, talented and the pre-conference schedule will more than prepare the Cougars.
Why they should be worried: They’re 2-8. They don’t need any more to be worried about.
8. San Diego State (5-5) Preseason Rank: 7
The Aztecs are doing irreparable harm to the conference’s power rating.
What we liked: Marcus Slaughter. He’ll be fighting Utah’s Bogut for player of the year for the next two years.
What we didn’t like: They’re getting outrebounded. Only two other teams in the conference: BYU, which has played top-notch teams, and Air Force, which never rebounds. This problem will only grow into the conference season if things are not fixed.
Best win: 86-51 vs. UC San Diego
Worst loss: 72-80 (OT) vs. UC Santa Barbara. Way to start the season in front of the home crowd. In the return trip later in the year, the Aztecs won by 18.
Why fans should be excited: Chris Walton should be back soon after hurting his hip and Wesley Stokes may be coming back to the team, depending on how his fall grades turn out.
Why they should be worried: If the Aztecs are struggling against the entire UC system, I’m not sure if Walton and Stokes are going to help that much.
Games to watch
1. Wake Forest at New Mexico, Dec. 22 – This game could write the Lobos’ NCAA Tournament ticket in pencil and validate the conference for 2005.
2. UNLV at Texas, Jan. 2 – The Rebels’ losses this year can be forgiven if they pull off the huge upset.
3. Wyoming at Southern Illinois, Dec. 30 – A win over the Salukis would be make for a great pair along with the Pokes’ win over Creighton.
4. Air Force at Iowa, Dec. 28 – See UNLV at Texas.
5. LSU at Utah, Jan. 3 – The Tigers may not be in the Top 25 right now, but they’re still a name team.
6. Colorado State at Pepperdine, Jan. 3 – The Rams’ last chance to get a quality win and on the road before the conference season.
7. Washington State at Wyoming, Dec. 22 – The Cougars are there for the Cowboys’ taking.
8. San Diego State vs. Providence/at Iowa State – A win in either game helps to validate the Aztecs.
