UNLV Runnin' Rebels Will Be Climbing The Mountain West Conference Power Rankings

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team is coming off their biggest win of the season, and one of the most surprising outcomes in a Mountain West Conference game this season. UNLV went into Logan, Utah, and knocked off the Utah State Aggies on their home court. There is no doubt that this will help them climb up the Mountain West power rankings, and they'll have a chance to climb even higher this weekend when they take on the first-place San Diego State Aztecs. Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net recently put out their rankings this week, and this is what they had to say about the Rebels as long as their last and next opponents.

Nevada Sports Net On Their No. 8 Ranked UNLV Runnin' Rebels

"UNLV picked up its best league win of the season last week, beating Boise State at home and following that with a road victory over SJSU to move two games above-.500 in MW play. UNLV’s league schedule has been soft so far, so we’ll keep the Rebels toward the bottom of these rankings. The Rebels can change that with its next four contests, games against Utah State, SDSU, New Mexico and Nevada."

Nevada Sports Net On Their No. 1 Ranked Utah State Aggies

"Utah State dropped its first conference game this season, losing at Grand Canyon, 84-74. The Aggies had a bad shooting showing against Nevada and GCU last week, going 14-of-49 (28.5 percent) from three in those games. The Aggies’ defense saved the team against Nevada, but that defense was shredded by GCU. Utah State stays in the top spot, but the gap has narrowed between it and SDSU."

Nevada Sports Net On Their No. 2 Ranked San Diego State Aztecs

"SDSU is now the MW’s lone unbeaten team in league play after surviving a home game against New Mexico. The Aztecs led most of that night but trailed by two with less than a minute to play before scoring the game’s final six points for an 83-79 win. That marked SDSU’s seventh straight win after a 6-4 start to the season. SDSU has a tough road trip this week with games at GCU and UNLV."

UNLV had been waiting for that first signature win of the Josh Pastner era, but they got that win on Tuesday over the Aggies. The victory will surely push them up the power rankings next week. They have another huge opportunity with the Aztecs in front of them this weekend. We expect the power rankings to look a lot different next week. If UNLV wins on Saturday, who knows how high they can climb?

More UNLV Rebels On SI News