Mountain West standings: Fresno State clips San Diego State; Nevada begins to cover ground

It starts with one.

If there's a chance that any other team in the Mountain West can begin to make a run at San Diego State, it starts with somebody knocking the Aztecs off their perch a few times. On Wednesday night, Fresno State decided to deliver the first blow.

The Bulldogs simply outlasted Steve Fisher's squad in a hard-fought contest which featured two teams that both connected on just nineteen field goals and failed to reach the 40 percent shooting percentage plateau. Somehow, it seemed like the Bulldogs beat the Aztecs at their own game.

The loss may have spoiled San Diego State's perfect run in conference play and it won't do anything to help their potential NCAA Tournament seeding but at the end of the day, the Aztecs still hold a comfortable three-and-a-half game lead over second place New Mexico with just five conference games left to play.

New Mexico, Boise State, Fresno State and now Nevada will still be hot on their tails, but it'll take a herculean effort for someone else to catch up with this San Diego State team.

However, don't discredit the race for second place now. With four main contenders closing in at New Mexico, things could get interesting down the stretch with just a handful of games left to play.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (AS OF 2/14)

WEEKLY SCOREBOARD

Biggest Winner: Nevada

The Wolf Pack were beginning to figure as a non-factors in the Mountain West, struggling to find any realm of consistency and why it's easy not to over-react to their two wins this week, sometimes the value placed on confidence can't be overlooked.

About to head into a two game road stretch that will take them to San Jose State and UNLV, Nevada needs all the help they can get. Despite their up-and-down season, the Wolf Pack actually are in the thick of things in the conference, sitting two games above the .500 mark in conference play. That's a place only three teams not named San Diego State can say they are at this point in the year.

And while their schedule still remains daunting, with road trips to Vegas and Boise still ahead, there's a chance that this week could be the pivotal turning point for Eric Musselman's team. The first-year head coach has been passionately trying to change the culture in Reno and a catalyst week like this could be the change that this Nevada team has been waiting for.

Biggest Loser: San Diego State

It's probably the first (and last) time that a team who sits square atop the conference and has only lost one game in conference all season will be the "biggest loser" of the week but it's also the first chances to be able to analyze this San Diego State coming off a loss this season. It'll be interesting to see how the Aztecs respond to some adversity for a change.

The quality of play of San Diego State has definitely been decreasing, even in victory, and it looked like only time would tell until the Aztecs just couldn't do enough to hold on for once.

How they regroup is the key question now. I don't see this San Diego State team as one that implodes or begins a trend of losing but to the rest of the conference, it's likely that the Aztecs will appear as though they have a chink in the armor.

Fortunately for the Aztecs, they have a rest week upcoming as they don't play again until Sunday when they travel to San Jose State. If San Diego State can find their way past the Spartans, they may return to their spot atop the "biggest winner" perch, as they may have the Mountain West all wrapped up by then.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

It might still be San Diego State's conference to lose but with the Aztecs off until Sunday this week, the chance for some of the conference's other stand-out squads to cover ground is there. What just might happen between them all is still up in the air. This week's schedule features four days of games, including a rare Sunday afternoon tilt featuring the league leaders in the Aztecs and a struggling San Jose State side.

The best slate of games likely comes on Wednesday night when some intriguing contests in Fresno State traveling to Wyoming preludes a New Mexico-Boise State showdown that could be one of the best games in the league all year.

When these two met earlier in the season, in Boise, New Mexico used a thirty point showing from Elijah Brown to take home a 88-83 victory. This time, at "The Pit", the Lobos will be hoping to double up the Broncos, effectively pushing them out of the race for the second spot in the Mountain West. But don't sleep on a loaded Saturday slate that could have some high-impact games after some mid-week reshuffling.

Team To Watch: UNLV

The Rebels are coming off a solid two-win week after dropping three straight and now sitting at 6-7 in conference, they know how much there is yet to be done. Todd Simon's team travels to Air Force on Tuesday night for a clash with an Air Force squad that boasts just three conference wins before hosting a red-hot Nevada team this weekend.

If UNLV can find a way to hang on for another perfect set of games, the chance of them being above .500 in conference and playing well entering the Mountain West Tournament would slot the Rebels are the biggest MWC Tournament dark-horse in recent memory.

UNLV may not be playing for a chance to win the regular season anymore but their post-season hopes are still on the table. If there's ever a time for this Rebels team to finally get it right, now would be it.