Mountaintop View 1-7-19

Happy Monday everyone, or something like that. Nevertheless, we are rolling out a brand new set of links that discuss current topics going on in both MWC basketball and football. Take a look.

Mountain West basketball in a freefall.

This is a great read by Mark Zeigler on the fall the MWC has taken in men’s basketball the past half-decade. One year they sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament and were arguable the third-best basketball conference in the nation. Now, it’s one outstanding team in Nevada and the rest of the conference that rotates in and out every year. SDSU, UNLV, and New Mexico, once the pillars of the conference, are now all teams striving to get out of the middle of the pack.

Norvell and Polian had similar first two seasons.

Chris Murray did some great research to put this article together. They have identical records after two seasons, and both made a bowl game in year two after a struggling first year. Even the personnel is similar, with both getting two years out of good quarterbacks, runnings backs with solid true freshmen seasons, and left-tackles who became second-round NFL picks. There’s additional similarities as well.

Should the targeting rule be adjusted?

The mothership shares their thoughts on the targeting rule. For the record, it has already been adjusted following its first year of implementation (remember when the 15 yard penalty stood, even if the player wasn’t ejected?), so there is a precedent for another tweak. Here, the case is being made by the AAC officiating coordinator for a lesser penalty for lack of intent on a hit. He seeks to borrow the basketball model of flagrant one and flagrant two fouls.

Stop if you’ve heard this before, but Nevada MBB adds a transfer.

Death, taxes, and the Wolf Pack adding transfers like it’s going out of style. This time, it’s Mike Lewis II, who is coming over from Duquesne. He led the team in scoring his first two seasons before seeing his minutes heavily decrease. He will join the team as a walk-on this spring, redshirt while sitting out next year and be able to play his final season in 2020-2021.

Falcons, Aztecs football ranked highly... in uniforms and helmets.

On the horizon:

• Later today: The latest MWC Recruiting Roundup, take a look at some MWC recruits who are still in play.
• Later today: Taking the Temperature: New MBB rankings are out.
• Later today: The Nevada football season review.
• Coming Tuesday: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Team Reviews edition.
• Coming Tuesday: We hand out grades to the MWC teams who competed in bowl games.
• Coming Wednesday: The debut of our rebranded column, Peak Perspective, which looks at the legacy of Brett Rypien.