Has anyone else been watching our fellow MWC basketball teams?

[Cowboy Junky]

Nevada is still the team to beat. With the Martin brothers, Caroline, and a lot of good athletes, they're still favored to win the title. You have to beat the champ to be the champ.

UNLV looks impressive to me. They've been playing cream puffs, but they're demolishing the cream puffs. It will be more telling to see them against someone good, but they've got talent, length, and coaching this year. They look like a contender to me.

I haven't seen Fresno play yet.

I haven't seen UNM play yet.

SDSU looked really bad at ASU. They got pounded by the Sun Devils. It's like a Steve Fisher team that can't play defense. They don't look legit to me yet.

Boise is a steaming pile without Hutch, and don't look all that great with him in the line-up. They'll beat some people but don't have the depth to be contend this year.

CSU is about to get the trifecta-sweep this year with a football and basketball sweep in the same season. They don't look tough, disciplined, or well coached enough to contend.

I haven't seen Utah State, AFA, SJSU,

Nevada, UNLV, and I'm holding out judgement on Fresno until I see them play, look like the teams to beat in the MWC.

 

[LanderPoke]

Haven't watched much, but the good teams look like us, Nevada and UNLV (who, as you said, hasn't played anyone yet).

I think Boise, SDSU and Fresno are a step below and then everyone else is a step lower.

 

[NowherePoke]

I have watched a few games. Nevada is very good, clearly the team to beat. UNLV looks exciting as well.

I actually think UNM will be better than most think, despite the fact that the game I saw (NMSU) they lost pretty handily. Weir has them playing with a lot of energy and extending their defense full court. They are still trying to gel and having that many new pieces takes time, but they will be better than projected.

I watched parts of USU/Gonzaga. USU's performance YTD is not great, but they played pretty well in that game even without their top player (McEwen).

SDSU will be a Top 3/4 team regardless of the ASU debacle.

Leon Rice brought in some nice grad transfers and they will be pretty solid (assuming Hutchison is ok, not sure what his injury was). I watched them play against Iowa St. for a while and they looked decent once they got used to playing without Hutchison.

I haven't seen CSU, AFA, or Fresno.

SJSU sucks..again.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

Haven't watched much, but the good teams look like us, Nevada and UNLV (who, as you said, hasn't played anyone yet).

I think Boise, SDSU and Fresno are a step below and then everyone else is a step lower.

I agree. I think this Wyoming team should be right there at the end of the year vying for a championship. I think the big thing is we have to take care of home court come conference. If we can go undefeated at home and then steal some on the road we will be in a great position. That being said, I can't remember the last time we went undefeated at home in my 31 years. If we ever have in that time....

 

[stymeman]

haven't seen much, sorry.....see them all soon enough

 

[NowherePoke]

Haven't watched much, but the good teams look like us, Nevada and UNLV (who, as you said, hasn't played anyone yet).

I think Boise, SDSU and Fresno are a step below and then everyone else is a step lower.

I agree. I think this Wyoming team should be right there at the end of the year vying for a championship. I think the big thing is we have to take care of home court come conference. If we can go undefeated at home and then steal some on the road we will be in a great position. That being said, I can't remember the last time we went undefeated at home in my 31 years. If we ever have in that time....

Yeah, I don't think we have gone undefeated at home, but we came really close with the Bailey/Davis teams in 00-01 and 01-02. I think those teams went 12-1 and 14-1 at home respectively and I believe the one loss in the 00-01 season was the Dalron Johnson game (UNLV player hitting half court buzzer beater to beat us by 2).

 

[Cowboy Junky]

I have watched a few games. Nevada is very good, clearly the team to beat. UNLV looks exciting as well.

I actually think UNM will be better than most think, despite the fact that the game I saw (NMSU) they lost pretty handily. Weir has them playing with a lot of energy and extending their defense full court. They are still trying to gel and having that many new pieces takes time, but they will be better than projected.

I watched parts of USU/Gonzaga. USU's performance YTD is not great, but they played pretty well in that game even without their top player (McEwen).

SDSU will be a Top 3/4 team regardless of the ASU debacle.

Leon Rice brought in some nice grad transfers and they will be pretty solid (assuming Hutchison is ok, not sure what his injury was). I watched them play against Iowa St. for a while and they looked decent once they got used to playing without Hutchison.

I haven't seen CSU, AFA, or Fresno.

SJSU sucks..again.

Have you seen any Fresno?

I feel pretty confident that USU, SJSU, AFA, and CSU suck.

UNM, Boise, and SDSU have something to prove. I'm about to write them off as serious challengers for the title.

Nevada and UNLV look real deal to me.

I'm just wondering if it's a three horse race or a four horse race, and Fresno is the only possible contender I've yet to watch.

 

[NowherePoke]

I have watched a few games. Nevada is very good, clearly the team to beat. UNLV looks exciting as well.

I actually think UNM will be better than most think, despite the fact that the game I saw (NMSU) they lost pretty handily. Weir has them playing with a lot of energy and extending their defense full court. They are still trying to gel and having that many new pieces takes time, but they will be better than projected.

I watched parts of USU/Gonzaga. USU's performance YTD is not great, but they played pretty well in that game even without their top player (McEwen).

SDSU will be a Top 3/4 team regardless of the ASU debacle.

Leon Rice brought in some nice grad transfers and they will be pretty solid (assuming Hutchison is ok, not sure what his injury was). I watched them play against Iowa St. for a while and they looked decent once they got used to playing without Hutchison.

I haven't seen CSU, AFA, or Fresno.

SJSU sucks..again.

Have you seen any Fresno?

I feel pretty confident that USU, SJSU, AFA, and CSU suck.

UNM, Boise, and SDSU have something to prove. I'm about to write them off as serious challengers for the title.

Nevada and UNLV look real deal to me.

I'm just wondering if it's a three horse race or a four horse race, and Fresno is the only possible contender I've yet to watch.

I haven't seen Fresno yet. They lost to Evansville at home last night. Evansville is good, but that is standard Rodney Terry. Fresno always does better in conference than in OOC. Way to screw the conference RPI Bulldogs.

On paper they are a top 3/4 team in the league though.

 

[LanderPoke]

Fresno lets down the conference, yet again. NM is a steaming pile this year.

 

[poke_addict]

Fresno lets down the conference, yet again. NM is a steaming pile this year.

Yep I was embarrassed seeing that Fresno loss last night. Hope the pokes can put the conference on their back with a huge win tonight Go Pokes.

 

[wyopig]

Haven't watched much, but the good teams look like us, Nevada and UNLV (who, as you said, hasn't played anyone yet).

I think Boise, SDSU and Fresno are a step below and then everyone else is a step lower.

I agree. I think this Wyoming team should be right there at the end of the year vying for a championship. I think the big thing is we have to take care of home court come conference. If we can go undefeated at home and then steal some on the road we will be in a great position. That being said, I can't remember the last time we went undefeated at home in my 31 years. If we ever have in that time....

Yeah, I don't think we have gone undefeated at home, but we came really close with the Bailey/Davis teams in 00-01 and 01-02. I think those teams went 12-1 and 14-1 at home respectively and I believe the one loss in the 00-01 season was the Dalron Johnson game (UNLV player hitting half court buzzer beater to beat us by 2).

Yeah, you're right about the home loss to UNLV at the buzzer when Dalron threw it up from half court with Josh Davis in his face and his eyes were closed. The only home loss the next year was to SDSU by 4 late in the conference season. They also beat us by 1 in the MWC Semifinals that year, but we still got an at-large bid.

Wyoming has not gone undefeated at home since the AA was built. They played 1 game at the AA in 1982, which they won, but they've never had an undefeated home season there.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

I have watched a few games. Nevada is very good, clearly the team to beat. UNLV looks exciting as well.

I actually think UNM will be better than most think, despite the fact that the game I saw (NMSU) they lost pretty handily. Weir has them playing with a lot of energy and extending their defense full court. They are still trying to gel and having that many new pieces takes time, but they will be better than projected.

I watched parts of USU/Gonzaga. USU's performance YTD is not great, but they played pretty well in that game even without their top player (McEwen).

SDSU will be a Top 3/4 team regardless of the ASU debacle.

Leon Rice brought in some nice grad transfers and they will be pretty solid (assuming Hutchison is ok, not sure what his injury was). I watched them play against Iowa St. for a while and they looked decent once they got used to playing without Hutchison.

I haven't seen CSU, AFA, or Fresno.

SJSU sucks..again.

Have you seen any Fresno?

I feel pretty confident that USU, SJSU, AFA, and CSU suck.

UNM, Boise, and SDSU have something to prove. I'm about to write them off as serious challengers for the title.

Nevada and UNLV look real deal to me.

I'm just wondering if it's a three horse race or a four horse race, and Fresno is the only possible contender I've yet to watch.

I haven't seen Fresno yet. They lost to Evansville at home last night. Evansville is good, but that is standard Rodney Terry. Fresno always does better in conference than in OOC. Way to screw the conference RPI Bulldogs.

On paper they are a top 3/4 team in the league though.

Yeah, I think right now there are four clear tiers of MWC teams.

You have possible contenders in Nevada, Wyoming, and UNLV.

You have outside chance contenders in Boise, SDSU, and Fresno.

You have teams that can beat you in their building: UNM, USU, and CSU.

You have hot garbage in SJSU and AFA.

I think teams may shift from one group to the other: SDSU or Boise might climb. Wyoming and UNLV might fall.

Still, that's what it looks like to me after getting my eyeballs on all the MWC top teams.

 

[NowherePoke]

UNLV beat Utah by 27 last night. I think it is safe to say we aren't within miles of them or Nevada.

SDSU and Fresno probably round out the top 4. Pokes can finish 5th if we are healthy though.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

UNLV beat Utah by 27 last night. I think it is safe to say we aren't within miles of them or Nevada.

SDSU and Fresno probably round out the top 4. Pokes can finish 5th if we are healthy though.

Yep. Good call. I think we're a better team than we showed last night, but it still looks like the Nevada squads are the class of the league right now.

 

[LanderPoke]

I think a top 4 finish is in the cards. UNLV and Nev are def better, SDSU may be, but I think we're the best after that.

I don't think we could have played worse vs. Cinci and I don't they could have played much better honestly. I think if we played Cini with a full squad 10 times we get wins vs them two times.

The season still has a bright future

 

[Pokes fan 24-7]

I think a top 4 finish is in the cards. UNLV and Nev are def better, SDSU may be, but I think we're the best after that.

I don't think we could have played worse vs. Cinci and I don't they could have played much better honestly. I think if we played Cini with a full squad 10 times we get wins vs them two times.

The season still has a bright future

I think 4th is prob the best we could do. Boise UNLV and Nevada all look really good. I think we are about on par with Fresno and SDSU so I am thinking we will end up somewhere between 4 and 6.

 

[stymeman]

6 is our norm year in and year out, I hate mediocrity, but it is what it is

 

[Pokes fan 24-7]

6 is our norm year in and year out, I hate mediocrity, but it is what it is

Agreed, I also the think the Mountain West has gotten better overall this year which will make it tougher to gain any ground.