CBS Sports Way-Too-Early Bracketology: Can Nevada crack the field of 68?

CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm unveiled his first 2017 preseason bracket Thursday, and the Mountain West still has only one team placed in the field of 68: San Diego State.

However, it’s not all bad news. Palm has the Aztecs listed as a nine seed against Virginia Tech, which many would consider a fairly winnable matchup. SDSU returns a number of key players from last season’s 28-win squad, including Malik Pope, Trey Kell, Jeremy Hemsley and Zylan Cheatham. Previous preseason brackets have placed the Aztecs as low as a 12 seed, so it is possible that Steve Fisher’s team could be gaining a bit of traction heading into the fall.

The big question that Mountain West fans have been discussing this offseason is whether or not Nevada is ready to compete for the MW title, as well as an NCAA bid. The Wolf Pack, led by first year head coach Eric Musselman, captured the CBI title in April, and bring back a lot of talent for the 2016-17 season, most notably superstar forward Cameron Oliver.

Rumblings of a New Mexico MW title run have been fairly quiet outside of Mountain West circles, but the Lobos are content in bringing back double-digit scorers Elijah Brown and Tim Williams. They, too, have yet to appear on any preseason brackets.

The Mountain West has its work cut out for the upcoming season, but there is too much talent in the league to guarantee that the MW will once again be a one-bid league next March.

Keep your calendars close, we are approaching four months until college basketball is back in action.