Mountain West basketball update: It's San Diego State's conference to lose

Another week. Another two games. Another conference standings table with the same team still sitting proudly at the top. Simply put, it's San Diego State's world in the Mountain West at the moment. Everyone else is just playing in it.

The Aztecs slipped by Colorado State and New Mexico this week to secure their spot atop the conference rankings with the rest of the inconsistent league beginning to fall in place behind them. New Mexico, coming off a strong effort in a loss to the Aztecs, looks to be the Mountain West's second best outfit with Boise State's consistency battle continuing after dropping one against Air Force this week. From then on down the line, the conference remains a complete toss-up and a complete mess.

It'll take another week of promising showdowns to begin to settle all the dust but when the smoke finally clears, there's one thing that might as well be put in stone. Pending some sort of miracle, San Diego State is going to the Mountain West regular season champion at this point. It's just a race for second-place from here on out.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (AS OF 2/7)

WEEKLY SCOREBOARD

Biggest Winner: Air Force

Picking up just one win through their first nine conference games, it seemed like another daunting week was on the horizon for Air Force. The Falcons had lost eight straight at that point by an average losing margin of over 18 points per contest. Dave Pilipovich's squad seemed like a classic slew of tough competitors who just simply didn't have enough to seal the deal. It looked like show-downs with a reeling Wyoming outfit in need of some more wins and a daunting Boise State team was the worst case scenario for the Falcons.

But hey, I guess that's why they play the games. Air Force sent shockwaves through the whole conference this week, first clipping a Wyoming in comeback fashion, anchored by a critical 23 point night from junior Hayden Graham. Then, they rolled over that good momentum into a 61-53 shocker against Boise State, which could be the most stunning in-league upset to date this season.

It's assumed that the Falcons will come back down to earth with road trips to Nevada and San Diego State upcoming but they're likely on cloud nine for the moment and it's well-deserved. Air Force pulled off two huge victories this week and they deserve all the praise they receive.

Biggest Loser: UNLV

Starting the week with a road trip to "The Pit" is never easy but it looked like that key road trip at New Mexico would be the type of catalyst that Todd Simon's team needed. The "new-ness" of Simon as interim head coach had worn off and the nervous energy had settled, revealing the true colors of this UNLV team once again.

What the Rebels needed more than anything was a solid week to get back on track and re-affirm their position in the Mountain West. What they got was the disaster of all disasters. It's never an easy thing to try and pull out a victory on the road against the Lobos but the gut-wrenching fashion in which UNLV was simply unable to stop Lobos forward Tim Williams down the stretch was stunning.

Williams, a junior forward for New Mexico, scored 12 points down the stretch to seal the Rebels' loss. Unfortunately for UNLV, the four-day turnaround didn't help Simon's guys as a winnable second leg of their road swing ended in a heart-breaking fashion as well. The Rebels scratched and clawed to take the Bulldogs into double-overtime but after missing key opportunities along the way, the Rebels simply didn't have enough to hang on.

UNLV lost both it's games this week by a combined 11 points. Now, UNLV must try to regroup back at home with match-ups against last-place San Jose State and an excitable Colorado State team. Sitting at 4-7 in the conference now, the Rebels room for error has completely disappeared. If UNLV wants to remain relevant in this year's Mountain West picture, they must get the train back on the tracks quickly.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

San Diego State enters the week as the conference leader at a perfect 11-0 and with another flawless week, the Aztecs will likely lock up the regular season Mountain West title. Steve Fisher and company will take a tough road trip to Fresno State on Wednesday night, where the Aztecs first conference loss could definitely happen if the Bulldogs can get their act together.

Fresno State has been the surprise team in the conference all season long but their own inconsistency has been their own demise. Fresno State is coming off a week in which they lost to conference cellar-dwellers in San Jose State before sneaking past UNLV in double-overtime.

This one should surely be a fun one to watch. Another loaded Saturday slate features some key match-ups, especially for teams like Nevada, UNLV and Colorado State who are all seeking those crucial conference wins. Nevada could give Fresno State some trouble, especially if the Bulldogs are unfocused after trying to dethrone the best in the league in San Diego State.

The Wolfpack have been one of the league's most intriguing yet inconsistent teams, yielding them as the perfect candidates to turn some heads again this week. However, the team to keep an eye on this week has to be New Mexico. The Lobos are one of the few teams still somewhere in the Aztecs' neighborhood and playing two teams tied for last-place in the conference in the same week should be a healthy experience for Craig Neal's developing team. If New Mexico can get some help from some of their conference foes, the Lobos may be able to cover some ground on a red-hot San Diego State team in this upcoming week.