UNLV Runnin' Rebels Continue Mountain West Power Ranking Instability

After last week, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels slipped in the Mountain West Power Rankings, but they have an opportunity to climb back up.

USA; A detailed view of the midcourt logo during the first half of a Mountain West Conference tournament game between the UNLV Rebels and Boise State Broncos at Thomas Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team has been one of the most volatile and bewildering teams that we have seen in a long time in the Mountain West Conference. They can seemingly win or lose any game on any given night, regardless of venue or expectations. Because of this, they have been extremely difficult to predict or rank.

This week, they snapped a four-game losing streak that concluded with a disastrous collapse to the Fresno State Bulldogs, with a massive bounce-back win over the Grand Canyon Lopes. Since their win over GCU, they have knocked off the San Jose State Spartans, and they are now preparing for a huge road matchup against the Boise State Broncos on Friday night.

Despite how difficult it might be, Matt Hanifan of Yahoo! Sports recently attempted to properly rank the Rebels in their Mountain West Power rankings. This is what they had to say about the Rebels and their next opponent, the Boise State Broncos.

Yahoo! Sports On Their No. 8 Ranked UNLV Runnin' Rebels

"UNLV lost in the most impossible fashion to Fresno earlier in the week — leading by five (yes, FIVE) with six seconds left before five free throws, an impossibly bad inbounds miscue and a Jake Heidbreder game-winner sent the Runnin’ Rebels home with one of the most improbable losses of the season. The game featured 80 combined free throw attempts with 63 combined fouls. UNLV responded with a good win over Grand Canyon, but I couldn’t earnestly put them over Fresno after, well, their catastrophic loss inside Thomas & Mack earlier in the week."

Yahoo! Sports On Their No. 3 Ranked Boise State Broncos

"Boise State was the biggest riser in this week’s rankings, earning big wins over both Nevada (in overtime) and New Mexico (by one point!). Dylan Andrews has been subject to criticism for most of the season. But he played great in these two wins, scoring 25 points with six dimes against Nevada and followed that up by a 33-point effort over New Mexico. That’s one way to silence any naysayers."

We would like to see them at No. 7, but they make a valid point here that you can't put them over the Bulldogs after last week's game. However, if they can knock off the Broncos on Friday, they should jump up, maybe as high as No. 6.

They have a huge opportunity in front of them, and they need to get this win if they want to be taken seriously as a team that can make a deep Mountain West Tournament run. Nevertheless, we have seen the Rebels' stock drastically spike and plummet this season. It doesn't take much to turn things around, whether for the better or worse, for this team.

More UNLV Rebels On SI News