Mountain West Watch Feb. 21 — Aggies take sole hold of top spot again – Cache Valley Daily

I’m a couple days late getting this out. Couldn’t quite manage it Monday or Tuesday morning but now with Tuesday’s slate of games it’s time to reset things in the Mountain West.

It’s been an odd week (and a half) as the conference just beat up on itself, going back and forth. I nearly had to forego one of my usual sections of this article because there aren’t really any suitable candidates for it right now. Things are solidifying in the standings, though, but part of that is we’re just running out of time. Extend the season another month and we’d have just as much clue about who’d win the conference as we were back in mid-January.

So, let’s get it started with a belated installment of Mountain West Watch.

Standings/AP Poll

Here’s the standings as they sit today, along with AP Poll ranks, if applicable (parenthesis for teams not in the top 25 itself, but receiving votes in the poll, the number being where they’d rank if you extended beyond 25th).

Utah State secured first place for the third time after fending off another challenger for the top spot in the standings. The Aggies now sit alone with a tiebreaker in hand over second-place Boise State and a split series vs San Diego State. It’s not a concrete hold, but USU’s last four games are a far cry easier than pretty much every other team as they played just one team in the top eight spots in the standings before the end of the regular season.

Walker’s Mountain West Power Rankings

Here’s this week’s edition to my own four-tiered power rankings for the conference. There was no movement between the tiers this week, but some movement within them.

Tier 1 

1. San Diego State (1)

2. Utah State (3)

3. New Mexico (2)

Tier 2

4. Colorado State (5)

5. Nevada (4)

6. Boise State (6)

7. UNLV (7)

Tier 3

8. Wyoming (8)

9. Fresno State (9)

Tier 4

10. San Jose State (10)

11. Air Force (11)

Had this article come out on time, I would’ve placed the Aggies back in Tier 2 after having moved them into Tier 1 a week ago. A win over San Diego State makes up for, at least in part, losing by 20 to Colorado State which is the other team to move up in the rankings. The Rams had their own big loss over the last week, but their win over the Aggies helped them reset and prep for a tough game against New Mexico today.

Average Computer Ranks

While teams have been splitting a lot of games between each other, several teams have seen a jump, especially at the five and six spots in these rankings. We’ve also got a new number one with San Diego State rising just above New Mexico.

Boise State’s drastic jump had me wondering if I made a data entry mistake, because their resume since the last update was a 19-point loss to Utah State followed by wins over Fresno State and San Jose State, teams at the bottom of the conference. Sure, they won by 20-plus on both occasions, but it was a little odd. The Broncos jump helped them leapfrog Nevada despite the Wolf Pack seeing a rise. Boise State, Nevada and Utah State are separated by a grand total of 0.3 on average.

Biggest Risers

Jaedon LeDee

How does a man who’s probably been the consensus conference Player of the Year for most of the year become a “riser?” Well, by doing what he’s done the last three games against arguably the three best teams in the Mountain West alongside the Aztecs themselves. LeDee has scored at least 23 points (for an average of 24.3) in three straight games, contests against Colorado State, New Mexico and Utah State. Heck, go back one more game when SDSU played Nevada and you’ve got four straight games of 20-plus points on 64.4 percent shooting.

Even though San Diego State lost two of those four games where he played well individually, LeDee’s efforts and performance will not be questioned. And his play will likely lift him toward not only Mountain West Player of the Year but also All-American status.

Darius Brown

Brown is elevating his play at the perfect time for Utah State, with three games of 18-plus points in his last four outings. Not coincidently at all, the Aggies won his three higher-scoring games (vs Boise State, Wyoming and San Diego State) and lost on his off night (at Colorado State).

In that four-game stretch (even including his off night where he shot 1 of 9), Brown is averaging 17.3 points on 57 percent shooting along with 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He’s gone from an assist machine earlier in the season to being not only a distributor, but a key scorer and attacker on offense.

Biggest Fallers

New Mexico

I nearly didn’t have a candidate for this section, and honestly I feel like I’m stretching this. But barring a clutch 3-pointer from Jamal Mashburn Jr. the Lobos would be on a three-game losing streak and essentially out of the conference race. Mind you, New Mexico is subject to neither of those statements so it’s not correct to think in that manner, but things have still been a bit rough. The Lobos have three losses in their last five games and one of their stars, Mashburn, is in a bit of a slump (game-winning shot aside) with Donovan Dent dealing with a mild ankle injury. 

The good news for New Mexico is that it holds a lot of control over its own destiny. If the Lobos won out (saying a lot with games against Colorado State, at Boise State and at Utah State), they’d take home the conference crown.

Bracketology

Here’s the most recent update from BracketMatrix.com, from Feb. 20. For the first time in a while, we now see a six-bid Mountain West, a dream that felt more like a dream for the conference earlier but now could be a reality if teams like Boise State and Nevada surge toward the end. San Diego State got quite the boost with the NCAA Selection Committee releasing a preliminary top 16 which included the Aztecs as a four seed. Naturally, the bracketology community responded by pushing them from a five seed up to a four seed. 

In the Tournament

• San Diego State – 4 seed (in all 108 brackets on the database)








• Colorado State – 6 seed (108/108)
• Utah State – 7 seed (107/108)






• New Mexico – 9 seed (106/108)






• Boise State – 10 seed (107/108)
• Nevada – 11 seed (104/108)

End of Season Awards Ladder

There are no changes to any of this week’s award ladders, and at this point the only race that’s going to see real competition for the No. 1 spot is Player of the Year. But with LeDee powering up down the stretch, even that race seems like it would take a lot from guys down the list to usurp his spot.

Player of the Year

1. Jaedon LeDee, SDSU (Last Week: 1)






2. Isaiah Stevens, CSU (2)
3. Great Osobor, USU (3)

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Jaelen House, UNM (1)






2. JT Toppin, UNM (2)
3. Nique Clifford, CSU (3)

Newcomer of the Year

1. Great Osobor, USU (1)






2. Nique Clifford (2)
3. Darius Brown (3)

Freshman of the Year

1. JT Toppin, UNM (1)








2. Dedan Thomas Jr., UNLV (2)
3. Mason Falslev, USU (3)

Coach of the Year

1. Danny Sprinkle, USU (1)






2. Richard Pitino, UNM (2)






3. Brian Dutcher, SDSU (3)