ESPN BPI rankings update: San Diego State fourth among Mountain West teams
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The final week of the college basketball regular season is wrapping up with conference tournaments getting underway across the country.
New Mexico is looking to wrap up their first regular season championship in more than a decade with Colorado State holding out hope for a shared title. Mountain West teams will wrap up their seasons on Friday and Saturday before trekking to Las Vegas for the annual conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center next week.
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index remains unkind to Mountain West teams. Utah State currently leads all Mountain West teams at No. 45. The Aggies, losers of two in a row and three of their past five, will wrap up with Air Force on Saturday afternoon. Utah State is solidly in the NCAA tournament but could bump up their seeding by rebounding from their recent stretch next week in Las Vegas.
Boise State comes in at No. 47, second among Mountain West teams. The Broncos' recent run of wins has put them back in position to grab an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. Dominant home wins over New Mexico and Utah State plus a road win over Nevada have Boise State as Joe Lunardi’s last team into the tournament as of Tuesday morning. The Broncos will host Colorado State on Friday night, looking to wrap up the year 14-1 at home.
New Mexico, the current leader in the Mountain West standings, checks in at No. 49 in ESPN’s BPI. The Lobos won the Mountain West Conference tournament last season but have the opportunity to earn their first regular season title since 2012-13 when they close out the year against UNLV on Friday.
San Diego State moved outside of the top 50 following Tuesday’s loss to UNLV. The Aztecs sit at No. 53 prior to Saturday’s regular season finale against Nevada. San Diego physically dominated the Wolfpack during their earlier matchup in Reno and could use the victory to help ease the pressure of being around the NCAA tournament bubble. The Aztecs will get the conference tournament underway in Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
Colorado State continues to fly up the rankings, most recently moving up eight spots to No. 56. The Rams don’t have a strong non-conference resume but have steadily improved throughout the league portion of the year. They’ll get another chance for a big victory when they finish out with Boise State on Friday night.
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-770033d1c5c4820fdbde4ecf2452e810.jpg "Bodie De Silva")
Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.