Utah State
After a less-than-fruitful showing in non-conference play, each of the 12 Mountain West men’s basketball programs opened up conference play each of the last two weeks.
Like any year, this conference has been fairly unpredictable on a game-by-game basis. That was the case in Utah State’s blowout win against Colorado State to begin MW action. Though that win signaled more than just the current (1-0) that stands to their name when you pull up the standings.
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Utah State is the team to beat in the MW:
Heading into the season, San Diego State was atop the pecking order, and how could anyone blame them?! While they fell short in the MW Tournament, they returned the conference’s most returning production, including two of the conference’s top two-way players in Miles Byrd and Magoon Gwath.
Utah State wasn’t far off, with preseason player of the year Mason Falslev with highly touted transfers MJ Collins and Garry Clark. But they were largely viewed as maybe a half-tier below the Aztecs.
The first two months — including the last week — has revealed otherwise. Utah State is currently the lone at-large candidate the MW has to offer, and should be viewed as the MW’s team to beat before that happens.
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Utah State completely picked apart Colorado State in their 100-58 win last week. They scored nearly 1.6 points per possession, shooting 63.8 percent from the floor and 12-of-21 from 3-point range. Four of their five starters reached double figures — led by Falslev and Collins — while limiting a very good CSU offense to 36.7 percent shooting.
It may be Utah State’s best game of the season; it may also be CSU’s worst. The Aggies are currently the MW’s only top-50 team in KenPom, let alone top-30 (they’re No. 30) at 10-1, including No. 18 in NET with the conference’s most Quad 2 wins (3; tied with CSU).
Do you think they’re currently the team to beat?! Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
