Who’s the best in the Mountain West?
By Kyle Bradley
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Mountain West was considered a two-team race between UNLV and San Diego State. Those two teams showed early in the season that they were far and away the class of the conference. However, in the last week these two teams were left in a dust by a fellow conference member. New Mexico finished this week with two huge victories over each team, and both by double digits. The Lobos traveled to San Diego State and won by 10, and followed it up with a commanding 20 point victory over UNLV at home. New Mexico now finds themselves at the top of the MWC with a commanding two game lead. However, their non-conference slate pales in comparison to its counterparts. Just who exactly is the best team out west?
First, looking at various rankings, the picture is only further distorted. Per RealTimeRPI.com, UNLV and SDST are ranked 12th and 27th in the RPI, respectively, while New Mexico comes in at 29th. However, RPI is usually considered obsolete by many stat junkies today. When you look at Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, New Mexico comes in at a commanding 9th, while UNLV comes in at 29th and San Diego State a very distant 61st. The rankings are obviously not very clear. So, in order to clear these profiles up, let’s analyze each team’s body of work.
UNLV had an impressively tough non-conference slate, and emerged from it as a big contender. They beat #1 UNC by 10 points, took down Nevada, Illinois, and California and lost tough games at Wichita State and Wisconsin, both of whom are tournament locks. However, they have lost three of four, including two very surprising losses to Wyoming and TCU.
San Diego State’s profile is just as interesting. They too played a relatively tough non- conference slate, although not on the same level as UNLV. They lost to Baylor and Creighton but took down Long Beach State, Arizona, and California. They too, though, have been on a losing streak, falling in their past three games. Losses against UNLV and New Mexico are understandable, but losing at Air Force is not.
Finally, the hottest team of the three right now is New Mexico, who is riding a seven game winning streak. Unlike UNLV and San Diego State, New Mexico’s non-conference slate leaves a lot to be desired and includes bad losses to New Mexico State and Santa Clara. But, they have the best overall and conference record and just easily took down both UNLV and SDSU.
When analyzing all three of these teams, one has to remember to look at the entire body of work and not just how a team is doing lately. With that in mind, it’s pretty clear to me that UNLV seems to be the best of the group, even though they are currently in a slump. They have a big win over a current top ten team at a neutral site and have the best non-conference wins of the bunch. I think that San Diego State and New Mexico, however, are neck and neck. Neither team had an overly impressive non-conference slate, and I would say their level of play has been comparable. In just a couple of weeks, these three teams will duke it out for the Mountain West conference tournament title. Regardless of how that plays out, all three teams will make the tournament and have the talent to be Sweet Sixteen candidates and beyond.
Editor's Note: Kyle Bradley is a featured blogger for 'the Basketball Post', providing insight on bracket profiles and college basketball in general. More of his work can be found here or on BracketBlogCBB, his personal blog, and he can be followed on twitter @bracketblogcbb
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Mountain West was considered a two-team race between UNLV and San Diego State. Those two teams showed early in the season that they were far and away the class of the conference. However, in the last week these two teams were left in a dust by a fellow conference member. New Mexico finished this week with two huge victories over each team, and both by double digits. The Lobos traveled to San Diego State and won by 10, and followed it up with a commanding 20 point victory over UNLV at home. New Mexico now finds themselves at the top of the MWC with a commanding two game lead. However, their non-conference slate pales in comparison to its counterparts. Just who exactly is the best team out west?
First, looking at various rankings, the picture is only further distorted. Per RealTimeRPI.com, UNLV and SDST are ranked 12th and 27th in the RPI, respectively, while New Mexico comes in at 29th. However, RPI is usually considered obsolete by many stat junkies today. When you look at Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, New Mexico comes in at a commanding 9th, while UNLV comes in at 29th and San Diego State a very distant 61st. The rankings are obviously not very clear. So, in order to clear these profiles up, let’s analyze each team’s body of work.
UNLV had an impressively tough non-conference slate, and emerged from it as a big contender. They beat #1 UNC by 10 points, took down Nevada, Illinois, and California and lost tough games at Wichita State and Wisconsin, both of whom are tournament locks. However, they have lost three of four, including two very surprising losses to Wyoming and TCU.
San Diego State’s profile is just as interesting. They too played a relatively tough non- conference slate, although not on the same level as UNLV. They lost to Baylor and Creighton but took down Long Beach State, Arizona, and California. They too, though, have been on a losing streak, falling in their past three games. Losses against UNLV and New Mexico are understandable, but losing at Air Force is not.
Finally, the hottest team of the three right now is New Mexico, who is riding a seven game winning streak. Unlike UNLV and San Diego State, New Mexico’s non-conference slate leaves a lot to be desired and includes bad losses to New Mexico State and Santa Clara. But, they have the best overall and conference record and just easily took down both UNLV and SDSU.
When analyzing all three of these teams, one has to remember to look at the entire body of work and not just how a team is doing lately. With that in mind, it’s pretty clear to me that UNLV seems to be the best of the group, even though they are currently in a slump. They have a big win over a current top ten team at a neutral site and have the best non-conference wins of the bunch. I think that San Diego State and New Mexico, however, are neck and neck. Neither team had an overly impressive non-conference slate, and I would say their level of play has been comparable. In just a couple of weeks, these three teams will duke it out for the Mountain West conference tournament title. Regardless of how that plays out, all three teams will make the tournament and have the talent to be Sweet Sixteen candidates and beyond.
Editor's Note: Kyle Bradley is a featured blogger for 'the Basketball Post', providing insight on bracket profiles and college basketball in general. More of his work can be found here or on BracketBlogCBB, his personal blog, and he can be followed on twitter @bracketblogcbb
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