Mountain West Standings Update: Boise State, Fresno State Have Impressive Weeks

With San Diego State having already locked up the top spot in the conference, the seeding field for the Mountain West Conference is beginning to fill itself out behind them. A handful of teams are making some last second runs to improve their current standings while others are trending dangerously in the wrong direction. If there's one thing that's definitely for sure, it's that this year's Mountain West Tournament may be one of the most exciting contests in the past few seasons.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (AS OF 2/29)

WEEKLY SCOREBOARD

Biggest Winner: Boise State

Fresno State probably made their own case for the "Biggest Winner" of the week, putting together back-to-back wins over Air Force and on the road at New Mexico but Boise State's comeback effort against San Diego State seems to remain the lasting image of the week.

The Broncos did something that nobody else in the Mountain West has done all season long, when they stormed into Viejas Arena on Saturday and walked out with a victory. It was just the Aztecs second conference loss this year. In addition to loosening the stronghold that Steve Fisher's squad over the rest of the conference heading into the Mountain West tournament, Boise State also snapped San Diego State's 164 game winning streak when leading with 5:00 to play in the game. The nation's most impressive streak is finally over.

Leon Rice's team's big upset would be all for naught if it wasn't for their effort earlier in the week, when the Broncos handled a streaky UNLV team at Taco Bell Arena. Overcoming a sloppy first half, Boise State looked to lock-in after losing star James Webb III to a knee injury. Without Webb, the rest of the Broncos roster played with a renewed sense of urgency that translated into their showdown with San Diego State. Webb's status is still up in the air for this upcoming week.

Boise State will try to finish out their conference slate in style, first meeting with Nevada on Wednesday night in Boise before traveling to San Jose State to end the regular season.

Biggest Loser: New Mexico

What a long, strange trip it's been.

The Lobos came into this Mountain West season as strong contenders, a team that in some people's eyes would be able to dethrone San Diego State. That kind of thinking about this New Mexico team seems like ancient history now. Craig Neal's squad lost four straight games before entering Mountain West play and then ended up winning their first three conference games. From then on, this Lobos group has been as streaky as they come.

This week was one of the poor showings for New Mexico, who started off the schedule of games as the lone second place team in the Mountain West. After being upended on the road at Colorado State, the Lobos needed a bounce back performance at home against Fresno State. What they got is just about the complete opposite.

Despite a huge showing from sophomore guard Elijah Brown, who scored a career-high 41 points and picked up 11 rebounds, New Mexico was outscored by twelve in the second half by a red-hot Fresno State team. The Lobos were simply unable to contain the Bulldogs' senior guard Marvelle Harris, who had a 32 point, 10 assist performance of his own. It was the fourth time this season that New Mexico had allowed an opponent to score 90 or more points in a game.

The roller-coaster tendencies of this New Mexico team keep them as dangerous as anybody other contender entering the Mountain West Tournament but this is not the way that Craig Neal wants to see his team playing at this point in the year. Tuesday night's showdown with San Diego State should go a long way to revealing the true colors this Lobos team.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Team To Watch: San Diego State

At this point, there's nothing that the Aztecs can do to lose the Mountain West regular season title. Steve Fisher's squad did enough through their first fourteen games to lock up the league and secure the #1 seed in the conference tournament. Sometimes though, overwhelming success like that can be a team's greatest enemy.

The Aztecs looked a bit unfocused in their stunning loss to Boise State, when they squandered a nine point lead with just 1:40 left in the game. The defeat began to echo a dangerous trend for this San Diego State squad that had been perpetuating itself for months. There's no arguing that the Aztecs are the best outfit in this league. The problem now is on any given night, they are becoming increasingly beatable.

Steve Fisher's boys have a daunting week in front of them, starting with a road trip on Tuesday night to "The Pit". New Mexico is a hit-or-miss team who could use a game like this to get their season back on track. The Aztecs will conclude their regular season with a showdown against UNLV on Saturday, back in San Diego.