Mountain West has over the last two seasons. After three seasons of finishing no higher than 10th in KenPom’s conference ratings, the Mountain West has finished sixth and seventh the last two years, and four teams in each of those seasons earned NCAA Tournament bids. San Diego State’s run to the national championship game seemed to legitimize the respect the conference had earned, but this season will be about multiple teams finally taking the next step and winning a game in March.
The Aztecs reign as conference favorites this season, but they are weak favorites at the top of a conference loaded with parity. Boise State brings back arguably the best player in the conference in forward Tyson Degenhart, and he is playing a new position. New Mexico boasts the best backcourt duo in the Mountain West with both Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn Jr. back in uniform. Nevada is one of the oldest and most experienced teams in the country. A run at the regular season title for any of these teams will be a challenge, and even further down the board are teams like UNLV and Colorado State that are brimming with talent.
Plenty of folks are down on this conference due to it getting eight tournament teams over the last two seasons, but only having five wins from one team to show for it. However, this conference is loaded once more. KenPom has the Mountain West seventh in its preseason conference rankings, ahead of the West Coast Conference and American Athletic. On the surface this looks to be another multi-bid league this season.
Air Force Falcons
Four starters return for Air Force this season, and not one senior is on this roster. Head coach Joe Scott has a roster that is the best he’s had in his second stint at the Air Force Academy, and that will mean a jump in the standings for the Falcons. Rytis Petraitis is the leading returning scorer for Air Force this season. Petraitis is a sophomore forward who will play the five for the Falcons. He’s an efficient scorer who shot 48.3% and grabbed 6.2 rebounds per game. Guard Ethan Taylor is the second-most important piece for Scott this season. Taylor averaged 7.1 points and 3.1 assists per game, but most importantly he shot 38.4% from beyond the arc. Shooting figures to be a weakness for this Air Force team — Taylor is the only player who shot better than 33.7% — but the offense will be better. The Falcons run a Princeton offense under Scott, so that means long possessions and high assist rates. Air Force ranked 348th in the country in tempo last season, and that does not figure to improve much this season. The Falcons are usually a team bettors chalk up to as poor, but capable of stealing a win at home against a better opponent like it did to New Mexico last season. However, the Falcons might have more in store for bettors this season, and should be a team worth betting on in conference play.