Category: San Diego State

Mountain West Power Rankings: Final Regular Season Edition

Who topped the final rankings?

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Mountain West Power Rankings: Final Regular Season Edition

Who is at the top, well, it is obvious.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

One last time.

The Mountain West title game is this week but we are not going to step away from our final power rankings of the year. We also will have one after bowl season and then get a stupid early one in after the championship game.

Back to the final rankings. It is no shock that Boise State claims every first place vote. Air Force comes in at a near-unanimous second-place finish with its 10-2 regular season record. West champion Hawaii comes in at third, moving up two spots, and then they are followed by all of the bowl-eligible teams in the league.

The middle spots are jumbled up a bit but as expected the bowl team are at the top and the rest fill out the bottom.

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Mountain West Football Media Announces 2019 Postseason All-Conference Team

The Mountain West football media revealed its players of the year and honored XX different teams on its postseason all-conference squad.

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Mountain West Football Media Announces 2019 Postseason All-Conference Team

The Mountain West football media revealed its players of the year and honored all 12 teams on its postseason all-conference squad.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

A lot of props to go around.

mwwire’s 2019 postseason honors:

All-Conference Teams | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Special Teams Players of the Year | Freshmen of the Year | Coach of the Year | Coordinator of the Year

Ahead of Championship Saturday, the Mountain West Conference announced the media’s selections for its annual individual honors and the traditional two-deep of all-conference athletes.

As you might imagine, the Boise State Broncos led the way in sweeping nearly all of the individual honors, claiming three of five after entering the title game with an 11-1 record: George Holani was named the Mountain West’s top freshman, while Curtis Weaver earned Defensive Player of the Year and Avery Williams was named Special Teams Player of the Year.

The two non-Broncos to earn the conference’s major awards are San Jose State quarterback Josh Love, named Offensive Player of the Year, and Hawaii head coach Nick Rolovich, who was named as the conference’s best in 2019..

Boise State and Utah State led the Mountain West with five selections each, while San Diego State has four and defending champion Fresno State has three. The only teams without representation on this year’s preseason all-conference list are San Jose State and New Mexico.

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Media Individual Honors

Offensive Player of the Year – Josh Love, QB, San Jose State
Defensive Player of the Year – Curtis Weaver, STUD, Boise State
Special Teams Player of the Year – Avery Williams, PR, Boise State
Freshman of the Year – George Holani, RB, Boise State
Coach of the Year – Nick Rolovich, Hawaii

First-Team All-Mountain West

Offense

QB – Josh Love, San Jose State
RB – Charles Williams, UNLV
RB – Xazavian Valladay, Wyoming
WR – Warren Jackson, Colorado State
WR – Cedric Byrd, Hawaii
WR – Tre Walker, San Jose State
TE – Trey McBride, Colorado State
OL – Scott Hattok, Air Force
OL – Nolan Laufenberg, Air Force
OL – Ezra Cleveland, Boise State
OL – John Molchon, Boise State
OL – Keith Ismael, San Diego State

Defense

DL – Mosese Fifita, Air Force
DL – Curtis Weaver, Boise State
DL – Dom Peterson, Nevada
DL – Myles Cheatum, San Diego State
DL – Cameron Thomas, San Diego State
LB – Justin Rice, Fresno State
LB – Mykal Walker, Fresno State
LB – Kyahva Tezino, San Diego State
LB – David Woodward, Utah State
LB – Logan Wilson, Wyoming
DB – Kekaula Kaniho, Boise State
DB – Jamal Hicks, Colorado State
DB – Luq Barcoo, San Diego State
DB – Alijah Halliburton, Wyoming

Special Teams

K – Dominik Eberle, Utah State
P – Ryan Stonehouse, Colorado
KR – Savon Scarver, Utah State
PR – Avery Williams, Boise State

Second-Team All-Mountain West

Offense

QB – Cole McDonald, Hawaii
RB – George Holani, Boise State
RB – Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State
WR – John Hightower, Boise State
WR – Jojo Ward, Hawaii
WR – Siaosi Mariner, Utah State
TE – Parker Houston, San Diego State
OL – Connor Vikupitz, Air Force
OL – Garrett Larson, Boise State
OL – Ilm Manning, Hawaii
OL – Daishawn Dixon, San Diego State
OL – Keegan Cryder, Wyoming

Defense

DL – Chase Hatada, Boise State
DL – David Moa, Boise State
DL – Keshawn Banks, San Diego State
DL – Tipa Galeai, Utah State
LB – Kyle Johnson, Air Force
LB – Demonte Meeks, Air Force
LB – Riley Whimpey, Boise State
LB – Ethan Aguayo, San Jose State
DB – Kekoa Nawahine, Boise State
DB – Jalen Walker, Boise State
DB – Tariq Thompson, San Diego State
DB – Jericho Flowers, UNLV

Special Teams

K – Brandon Talton, Nevada
P – Tyson Dyer, New Mexico
KR – John Hightower, Boise State
PR – Austin Conway, Wyoming

All-Mountain West Honorable Mentions

Air Force: Milton Bugg III, DB; Jeremy Fejedelem, DB; Jordan Jackson, DL; Timothy Jackson, FB; Jake Koehnke, PK; Zane Lewis, DB; Geraud Sanders, WR; Kadin Remsberg, RB

Boise State: John Bates, TE; Sonatane Lui, DL; Eric Quevedo, OL; Khalil Shakir, WR; Avery Williams, DB

Colorado State: Anthony Hawkins, KR; Manny Jones, DL

Fresno State: Kevin Atkins, DL; Blake Cusick, P; Juju Hughes, DB

Hawaii: Cortez Davis, DB; Rojesterman Farris II, DB; Solomon Matautia, LB; Kaimana Padello, DL; Gene Pryor, OL; Taaga Tuulima, OL; Blessman Ta‘ala, DL
Nevada: Daniel Brown, DB; Romeo Doubs, WR, PR; Gabriel Sewell, LB; Toa Taua, RB

New Mexico: Ahmari Davis, RB; Alex Hart, LB; Teton Saltes, OL; Kyle Stapley, OL

San Diego State: Matt Araiza, PK; William Dunkle, OL; Darren Hall, DB; Brandon Heicklen, P; Dwayne Johnson Jr., DB

San José State: Bailey Gaither, WR; Troy Kowalski, OL; Matt Mercurio, PK; Jack Snyder, OL

UNLV: Julio Garcia, OL; Rayshad Jackson, LB; Justin Polu, OL; Javin White, LB

Utah State: Shaq Bond, DB; Gerold Bright, RB; Jordan Love, QB; Caleb Repp, TE; Christopher Unga, DL

Wyoming: Tyler Hall, DB; Logan Harris, OL; Cassh Maluia, LB

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Head Of The Class: Ranking The Best Players Through The First Month Of Games By Year

Head of the Class: 1st Edition Mountain West Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire The Mountain West conferences best players according to class. The month of November is behind us and the Mountain West …

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Head of the Class: 1st Edition 

Mountain West Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

The Mountain West conferences best players according to class. 

The month of November is behind us and the Mountain West has looked good out of the gate. Utah State is still ranked in the top twenty after their first loss to Jordan Ford and Saint Mary’s and San Diego State is on the cusp of a top-25 ranking after receiving votes in both polls this week.

The conference as a whole is different this year and teams have lost players due transfer, graduation and professional options. They have also brought players in during that time as well. Regardless of whether players are new to the conference or not much of the success teams are having can be attributed to the individual performances of certain players thus far.

We have started our new column the Mountain West Wire’s Player of the Year Watch list, which is meant to highlight five players a week based on their performances and one in particular is awarded out player of the week. This has been a fun article to put together but the conference as a whole has had talented players emerge and they have had great performances all month long. The point of this article will be to update our readers on some players and performances that may have been missed.

First Off,

The Freshmen

5. Zane Meeks, Nevada

Season Stats: 4.6 PPG 3.8 RPG 0.4 APG (8 GMS)

Best Performance: 11 Points, 4 Rebounds on 5-8 made FGs against Valparaiso 11/24

Nevada has struggled a bit on the way to that 5-3 record they have currently with losses to USC, Davidson and Utah. The core of Nevada’s team is made up of transfers and Lindsey Drew but Meeks who committed to at the time newly dubbed head coach Steve Alford last spring has made an impact on a very shallow Wolf Pack frontcourt while showing potential.

4. David Roddy, Colorado State

Season Stats: 8.9 PPG 4.6 RPG 1.0 APG

Best Performance: 14 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Blocks and 1 Steal against Arkansas St. 11/20

Roddy is a 6-5 250 GUARD who can shoot the ball from deep. Roddy chose basketball over football before committing to CSU last year and has made an impact as a true freshman on a 6-3 Rams squad. The future is bright with Roddy and Stevens in Fort Collins, don’t worry Nico Carvacho the Rams are in good hands.

3. Orlando Robinson, Fresno State

Season Stats: 10.5 PPG 6.3 RPG 0.7 SPG (6 GMS)

Best Performance: 16 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists and 2 Steals against Cal-St. San Bernadino 11/17

Robinson had high major offers back in high school and has shown why while being impactful on a Fresno State team that is loaded with bigs. He and Nate Grimes need to figure something else out though if they want to live up to preseason expectations.

2. Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State

Season Stats: 12.3 PPG 3.4 RPG 3.6 APG (9 GMS)

Best Performance: 21 Points, 5 Rebounds and 5 Assists against Loyola Marymount 11/16

Colorado State is 6-3 so far and a combination of youth and senior leaders is a big reason why. Stevens has had some great performances so far and looks like a solid leader on the team as just a freshman.

1. Jarred Hyder, Fresno State

Season Stats: 15.6 PPG 3.8 RPG 2.4 APG (5 GMS)

Best Performance: 26 Points, 3 Assists and 2 Steals against Winthrop 11/10

Hyder has been a bright spot for Bulldog fans who were looking for a bit more from their veteran guards. He is leading the team in scoring and is a big reason Fresno State has two wins so far this season.

UP NEXT: SOPHOMORES

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Who Has Been The Best Mountain West Player So Far?

Who Has Been The Best Mountain West Player So far? It is early but let’s look at everything. Contact/Follow @MWCwire Top player after (most of) non-league play The conference season is approaching. With that, I was curious who in the Mountain West …

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Who Has Been The Best Mountain West Player So far?

It is early but let’s look at everything.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Top player after (most of) non-league play

The conference season is approaching. With that, I was curious who in the Mountain West has performed at the highest level so far over the non-conference season. This will give us a midseason look at who the best players have been, and then we can run the exercise again at the end of the season during awards time.

How does one even go about determining who has been the best though?

Watching every game might work, but who has time for that?

Many people like to look at the box scores and use stats like Points per Game to determine who has been the best, but those stats are very flawed for a number of reasons and don’t give enough context.

To do my research, I looked at 3 advanced analytics for every player in the conference, took the Z-Scores of each statistic, and then averaged it out.

The three analytics are: Points over Expectation, Player Impact Plus Minus, and WIns Added. All three of these stats measure specific things, and count contributions on both sides of the ball, as opposed to just counting offense or defense. Let’s quickly go over what each statistic does.

Points Over Expectation – Also known as POE, this is an efficiency stat. It takes into account the number and type of shots a player takes (or defends) and compares the outcome to what an average player would’ve done with the same number and type of shots. A score of zero is the equivalent of an average player. Since POE takes into account the number of shots, than the higher usage a player has, the more likely they are to be farther from 0. So players that are really efficient on large volume are the ones that get good scores here. Since basketball is about scoring more points than your opponent, someone who can score, and defend, at an efficient level is a valuable player.

Player Impact Plus Minus – Also known as PIPM, this is an impact stat. Basically, it measures how well a player has performed in the role they’re in. A player being used in the way that best suits their skill set will have a higher score than a player who is talented in certain areas but not able to show that talent off. As an example, if Nico Caravacho was asked to shoot 3 pointers all game he would hurt his team, as that’s not his skill set. This statistic is important because no matter how purely talented a player may be, if the player doesn’t use the talents correctly it will hurt the team and prevent winning. PIPM also makes adjustments for the quality of opponents, which POE does not. I think that is an important factor when determining who has been the best so far.

Wins Added – This score is directly related to PIPM. One of PIPM’s flaws is that is does not make adjustments for playing time. So a player that has only played 5 minutes can have a better score than a star who plays 30 minutes a game. WIns added is an estimation of how many wins a player has provided for their team based on their PIPM score and how many minutes they have played.

As you can see, these stats measure different things, but they are all relevant in the conversation of “who has been the best player so far” and they help cover up each others weaknesses. With that, let’s look at the top 10 players so far. For reference, when using Z-Scores, the maximum score is basically 3, while 0 is average, and the worst possible is -3.

10. Diogo Brito, Utah State. Averaged Z-Score: 1.336

Diogo Brito comes in at 12th in PIPM, 10th in Wins added, and 23rd in POE. THe efficiency is what is holding him back so far. That’s not to say he isn’t efficient, as he has above average scores on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, it’s just not up to par with his overall impact.

9. Carlton Bragg Jr., New Mexico. Averaged Z-Score: 1.346

Carlton Bragg comes in at 7th in both PIPM and WIns Added. His POE score is all the way down at 34 however. His offense has been solid, as he scores about a point more per game than an average player would have given his opportunities, but his defensive efficiency has been pretty average so far. If he can force his man into more stops his ranking will improve.

8. Cheikh Mbacke Diong, UNLV. Averaged Z-Score: 1.539.

Cheikh Mbacke Diong comes in at 15th in PIPM, which is still solid. He ranks second in Wins Added, meaning he is carrying his team and playing a lot of minutes, which is crazy because he’s only 4th on his team in minutes played. He is simply having a greater impact than his teammates are in the time he gets. His POE rank is 27th. His biggest problem is offensively, where he only scores 0.333 more points per game than an average player would with his opportunity.

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Four

Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Four Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Four. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Who is in the running for Player of the Year? The staff at the Mountain …

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Four

Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Four.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Who is in the running for Player of the Year?

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We are going to keep track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and vote on who had the best performances that week. 

How It Works: 

Each person will award 15 points in total to five players and should award it as so:

1st place (Player of the week): 5 pts

2nd place: 4 pts

3rd place: 3 pts

4th place: 2 pts

5th place: 1 pt

The player with the most points total will be our player of the week and we will keep track of the point totals every week so that the player who has the most at the end of the year will receive the Mountain West Wire Player of the Year award. Just copy the players below and type your names above it like we do for the pick them docs we get and award your points. 

Now some guys made the list and others didn’t. A big thing to think about was consistency throughout the week. Something that hurt some guys was having a decent game one day and a bad one the other day. Guys who made the list had a great game one day and a good one on other days, or good games both days.

This column will come out on Sunday nights or Monday mornings depending on how late some games finish on Sundays. 

The order for the Fourth week is as follows:

1. Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (5 Points)

11 Points, 3 Assists and 2 Steals against Tennessee State

21 Points, 3 Assists and 2 Steals against Creighton

28 Points, 4 Assists and 3 Steals against Iowa

Malachi Flynn helped put the San Diego State on the national radar after key performances during a successful Turkey Week for the Aztecs. Brian Dutcher’s team received votes in both the AP (89) and Coaches (19) top-25 polls this past week after wins against Tennessee State, Creighton and Iowa to become the 2019 Continental Tire Las Vegas International Champions while Flynn earned tournament MVP honors.

This Aztec team is on the rise and Flynn has been a key part of the success that Brian Dutcher’s squad is having in his third year in charge of the Aztecs.

2. Justin Bean, sophomore forward Utah State (4 Points):

24 Points, 9 Rebounds and 2 Steals against Saint Mary’s

3. Jazz Johnson, senior guard Nevada (3 Points):

25 Points, 5 Rebounds and 3 Assists against Bowling Green

4. Sam Merrill, senior guard Utah State (2 Points):

23 Points, 6 Rebounds and 2 Steals against Saint Mary’s

5. Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (1 Point):

20 Points, 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists and 2 Steals against Bowling Green

Current Overall Point Totals:

JaQuan Lyle, senior guard UNM (8 Points)

Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (6 Points)

Jazz Johnson, senior guard Nevada (6 Points)

Sam Merrill, senior guard USU (6 Point)

Lindsey Drew, senior guard Nevada (5 Points)

Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (5 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, junior guard BSU (4 Points)

Justin Bean, sophomore forward USU (4 Points)

Nico Carvacho, senior center CSU (4 Points)

Amauri Hardy, junior guard UNLV (4 Points)

Alphonso Anderson, junior guard USU (3 Point)

Jordan Schakel, junior guard SDSU (2 Points)

Donnie Tillman, junior forward UNLV (2 Points)

Past Weeks:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 

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Mountain West Basketball: Week 5 DPI Computer Rankings

Mountain West Basketball: Week 5 DPI Computer Rankings Aggies and Aztecs already separating themselves from the pack Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire ‘Tis the season…for computer rankings Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone-and more …

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Mountain West Basketball: Week 5 DPI Computer Rankings

Aggies and Aztecs already separating themselves from the pack

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

‘Tis the season…for computer rankings

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone—and more importantly, with nearly 1,200 Division I games having been played—it’s time to start looking at how teams are stacking up against one another.

To do so, allow me to introduce my analytics system, the Dieckhoff Power Index—or DPI, for short.

The DPI assigns teams an overall rating out of 100 points, which will hopefully make it easy to digest for people who, like me, have little to no knowledge of advanced math.

Without getting into too long an explanation, the DPI is a mixture of:

  • offensive efficiency
  • defensive efficiency
  • statistical performance in the “four factors”: shooting, turnovers, offensive rebounds, and free throws.

A deeper explanation of the history and methodology behind the system can be found at the DPI website. The site has the full rankings for all 353 teams and will feature bracketology projections later in the season.

But for our purposes here at Mountain West Wire, all you really need to know is this: high scores are good and low scores are bad. These ratings paint a picture of how the eleven teams in the MWC match up on both sides of the ball, nationally and within the league.

Updated DPI rankings for the Mountain West will be posted here weekly throughout the season. I will also give some insights into each team and track their movement in the standings.

Without further ado, here are the first batch of rankings for the DPI on the heels of the holiday weekend. The grades and rankings are current through all games played on Monday, December 2.

(Note: Games against non-Div. I opponents are not counted in the DPI.)

Utah State (#1 MW, #11 overall) — DPI GRADE: 86.50

  • Offense Grade: 88.9 (#1 MW, #11 overall)
  • Defense Grade: 83.9 (#2 MW, #19 overall)
  • 4-Factor Grade: 86.7 (#2 MW, #45 overall)

Though it seems counter-intuitive with potential All-American Sam Merrill in the mix, Utah State’s weakest offensive trait so far has been its shooting. The defense has also struggled to force turnovers. But when the Aggies get Neemias Queta (knee) back, both of those marks should go up considerably. These issues are minor, though, as Utah State has been a top-20 team on either side of the ball. They’re still tops in the MW—for now.

Games this week: 12/4 @ San Jose State; 12/7 vs. Fresno State

San Diego StATE (#2 MW, #20 overall) — DPI GRADE: 84.95

  • Offense Grade: 80.9 (#2 MW, #61 overall)
  • Defense Grade: 85.8 (#1 MW, #8 overall)
  • 4-Factor Grade: 88.1 (#1 MW, #32 overall)

Outside of Michigan, the Aztecs had probably the best weekend out of any team in the country. After garnering lukewarm NCAA Tournament consideration before the season, SDSU is already knocking on the door of the Top 25 polls after just four weeks. Their top-10 defense has been the key, with the Aztecs allowing the 17th-lowest effective field goal percentage in the country. They are charging hard for Utah State’s throne.

Games this week: 12/4 @ Colorado State; 12/8 vs. San Jose State

 

COLORADO STATE (#3 MW, #109 OVERALL) — DPI GRADE: 76.15

  • Offense Grade: 77.8 (#3 MW, #88 overall)
  • Defense Grade: 69.0 (#7 MW, #165 overall)
  • 4-Factor Grade: 81.6 (#4 MW, #91 overall)

A bit of a shock here, as the Rams were picked to finish ninth in the preseason Mountain West poll. Colorado State has a couple regrettable losses already, but recent wins over Washington State and Loyola Chicago were encouraging. The team has shot the ball relatively well, but its secret to success so far has been getting to the free throw line. The Rams have already made more than 200 trips to the line, a top-10 mark nationally.

Games this week: 12/4 vs. San Diego State; 12/7 @ Boise State

NEW MEXICO (#4 MW, #110 overall) — DPI GRADE: 76.07

  • Offense Grade: 75.2 (#6 MW, #126 overall)
  • Defense Grade: 72.4 (#4 MW, #127 overall)
  • 4-Factor Grade: 80.7 (#5 MW, #105 overall)

It’s been a mixed bag so far for Paul Weir’s new-look Lobos, but the results have been mostly positive. New Mexico would surely like to get that game to UTEP back, but their win over Wisconsin cancels out the loss to the Miners. The Lobos were above-average at mostly everything in November, but those numbers are boosted by some blowout victories. Early indications are that UNM will be closer to .500 than they will be to the NCAA Tournament.

Games this week: 12/4 vs. Boise State; 12/7 vs. Wyoming

NEVADA (#5 MW, #120 OVERALL) — DPI GRADE: 75.63

  • Offense Grade: 75.6 (#5 MW, #120 overall)
  • Defense Grade: 69.5 (#5 MW, #159 overall)
  • 4-Factor Grade: 81.8 (#3 MW, #89 overall)

There’s precious little daylight separating Teams 3 through 5 in the Mountain West right now, as the Rams hold just a half-point edge over the Wolf Pack. New head coach Steve Alford has already experienced some turbulence, as Nevada has lost to its three best opponents so far. But their shooting and turnover stats indicate that they should be a Top 100 team soon.

Games this week: 12/4 vs. Santa Clara; 12/7 @ Air Force

Head to the page 2 for the back half of the standings.

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MWwire’s 2019 Postseason All-Conference Mountain West Football Team

In looking back at the 2019 regular season, our staff has made its selections for the best of the best from Mountain West football.

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Mountain West Wire Presents Its 2019 Postseason All-Mountain West Football Teams

In looking back at the 2019 regular season, our staff has made its selections for the best of the best from Mountain West football.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

Who stands out as the conference’s best from this season?

Before the Mountain West football championship kicks off in Boise this Saturday, our staff has put their heads together to determine who deserves recognition as part of our postseason all-conference teams. If you’re interested in our picks from 2018, you can find that here.

Unlike our preseason all-conference selections, our postseason honor roll only goes two deep. We have, however, maintained our efforts to better reflect the variety we see week in and week out throughout the Mountain West, too, so previous changes like the FLEX defender, differentiating between guards and tackles and centers rather than just selecting offensive linemen, and so on remain intact.

If you disagree with our choices, of course, feel free to let us know what you’d have done differently on Twitter or Facebook.

This year’s voters: Jeremy Mauss, Sean O’Toole (Air Force), Raja Prabahala and Collin Clovis and Erik Smiley (Boise State), Josh Fredlund and Brad Hubbard (Colorado State), Matthew Kenerly (Fresno State), Brandon Tamanaha (Hawaii), Brandon Blake (Nevada), Roger Holien (New Mexico), Ted McGovern and Erwin Mendoza (San Diego State), Logan Jones and Sam McConkie (Utah State), and Jesse Tachiquin (Wyoming)

First Team

Offense

QB – Josh Love, San Jose State
RB – Charles Williams, UNLV
RB – Xazavian Valladay, Wyoming
WR – Warren Jackson, Colorado State
WR – Cedric Byrd, Hawaii
WR – John Hightower, Boise State
TE – Trey McBride, Colorado State
C – Garrett Larson, Boise State
G – Nolan Laufenberg, Air Force
G – Solo Vaipulu, Hawaii
T – Ezra Cleveland, Boise State
T – Parker Ferguson, Air Force

Defense

DT – Cameron Thomas, San Diego State
DT – Sonatane Lui, Boise State
DE – Dom Peterson, Nevada
DE – Myles Cheatum, San Diego State
OLB – Curtis Weaver (STUD), Boise State
OLB – Rayshad Jackson, UNLV
ILB – Logan Wilson, Wyoming
ILB – Kyahva Tezino, San Diego State
CB – Luq Barcoo, San Diego State
CB – Jericho Flowers, UNLV
S – Alijah Halliburton, Wyoming
S – Tariq Thompson, San Diego State
FLEX – Dwayne Johnson Jr. (AZTEC), San Diego State

Special Teams

K – Dominik Eberle, Utah State
P – Ryan Stonehouse, Colorado State
KR – Savon Scarver, Utah State
PR – Avery Williams, Boise State

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Future Hoops Foes: Week Four Recap of Week Five’s Opponents

Mountain West beings league play.

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Taking a Look At Week Five’s Mountain West Opponent’s Performances in Week Four

Each Mountain West Teams Opponents for Week 5

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Take a look at each team’s opponents for this week and how they did last week.

Future Foes Week Four Recap:

This weeks edition of Future Hoops Foes will look a bit different in preparation for a break in non-conference play. There are still two games against non-conference opponents (Santa Clara and BYU) this week and you can find their reviews as normal down below. But since we are getting an early round of conference match ups in the first week of December, there will just be the listed dates and opponents for your favorite Mountain West teams in the remaining slots.

Air Force Falcons (3-5, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

Wyoming Cowboys

Sat, Dec. 7th

Nevada Wolf Pack

Boise State Broncos (4-2, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

New Mexico Lobos

Sat, Dec. 7th

Colorado State Rams:

Colorado State Rams (6-3, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

San Diego State Aztecs

Sat, Dec. 7th

Boise State Broncos

Fresno State Bulldogs (2-4, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

New Mexico Lobos

Sat, Dec. 7th

Utah State Aggies

Nevada Wolf Pack (5-3, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

Santa Clara Broncos:

Herb Sendek’s Bronco squad is 8-1 on the season and should’t be overlooked after convincing wins against Denver, SEMO and CSU Fullerton last week all by double-digits. Their lone loss comes at the hands of a very good Stanford team and they do boast an 8 point win over Washington State. Santa Clara is receiving production from a number of players on the court and as a whole are averaging a bit over eighty points a game.

They are led in scoring by sophomore guard Trey Wertz (11.6 PPG) and down low 6-11 sophomore forward Guglielmo Caruso is averaging 11.3 PPG. The Bronco’s are a tough squad this season and fully expect to leave Nevada with a win on Wednesday night and increase their win streak to six.

Sat, Dec. 7th

Air Force Falcons

New Mexico Lobos (7-2, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

Boise State Broncos

Sat, Dec. 7th

Wyoming Cowboys

San Diego State Aztecs (8-0, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

Colorado State Rams

Sun, Dec. 8th

San Jose State Spartans

San Jose State Spartans (3-5, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

Utah State Aggies

Sun, Dec. 8th

San Diego State Aztecs

Nevada-Las Vegas Running Rebels (3-6, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

Fresno State Bulldogs

Sat, Dec. 7th

Brigham Young Cougars:

Mark Pope‘s squad had a successful trip to Hawaii coming away with a 2-1 record in the Maui Invitational and 6-3 overall. A Loss to top five ranked Kansas was their only blemish of the week and they ended the weekend with a 35 point win over Montana Tech. TJ Haws and Jake Toolson helped solidify their positions as leaders of this team last week with solid performances.

But the big news surrounding the Cougars this week will be the return of star big man Yoeli Childs who returns from a nine game suspension dealt by the NCAA after his testing of NBA Draft waters took an unforeseen turn due to the misfiling of paperwork and alleged funds exchanging hands. Childs averaged 21.2 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 2.1 APG last year and will completely change how this BYU team plays.

Utah State Aggies (7-1, 0-0)

Wed, Dec. 4th

San Jose State Spartans

Sat, Dec. 7th

Fresno State Bulldogs

Wyoming Cowboys (3-5, 0-0)

 Wed, Dec. 4th 

Air Force Falcons

Sat, Dec. 7th

New Mexico Lobos

Side Note:

Make sure to revisit our top-25 opposing players article before you watch Saturdays game against BYU, as Yoeli Childs makes an appearance in our top five with a review of his own alongside Saint Mary’s guard Jordan Ford who has been tearing up Mountain West teams this season and handed Utah State their first loss of the season this past week.

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PODCAST: 2019 Week 14 Mountain West Football Recap

A look back at the final regular season games for the Mountain West.

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PODCAST: 2019 Week 14 Mountain West Football Recap

Final week of the regular season is complete.

Contact/Follow @MWCwire

Boise undefeated, Nevada and UNLV fight.

Jeremy goes solo to recap the final week of the Mountain West regular-season which did not have much on the line except for Boise State who needed a win to remain in the hunt for a New Year’s Six bowl game. There were games where coaches were in their last game and no team had a chance to earn a bowl bid as there were no teams that could not get to six wins.

The big story of the weekend was the fight that broke out between Nevada and UNLV after the Rebels won in overtime. That took away from a competitive game that needed extra time to decide its winner.

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You can find the Mountain West Wire podcast below or subscribe to the show via Anchor, Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, iTunes, and more. Listen in, subscribe and rate it and let us know what you think!

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Or just help us out directly through our Patreon page through this link.

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Aztecs Take Down BYU 13-3 In Regular Season Ending Match

Rocky Long’s Aztecs lived up to their billing as the 6th best defense in the nation as they limited high scoring BYU to only 3 points.

Aztecs Take Down BYU 13-3 In Regular Season Ending Match

This was a key victory for San Diego State as coach Rocky Long considered BYU the Aztecs’ top competitor of the season.

Contact/Follow @tedmcgovern & @MWCwire

Quarterback Carson Baker shines during his college football debut passing for 172 yards and a touchdown.

San Diego, CA-  SDSU completed the regular season with a 9-3 record by handing a loss to BYU (7-5) before an announced crowd of 28,180 at SDCCU Stadium.

BYU’s independent football program has no championship in which to participate, but will be headed to the Hawaii Bowl to play a yet-to-be-announced opponent.

The Aztecs are headed to a bowl game for a school-record 10th straight year, the only California school that can make such a claim.

The Aztecs will learn the identity of their bowl destination on December 8th.  Many project the Aztecs will play in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl possibly against Southern Miss or UAB.

Quarterback Ryan Agnew was sidelined with a calf injury, which is expected to be healed by the time of SDSU’s bowl game.  Agnew will start the bowl game, according to Aztecs Coach Rocky Long.

This was an opportunity to test the mettle of Carson Baker, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound redshirt freshman from Helix High.  Baker did not disappoint.

Baker becomes the fourth straight Aztecs quarterback to win his starting debut, joining Ryan Agnew (2018), Christian Chapman (2015) and Maxwell Smith (2015).

Baker was 19-for-24 passing for 172 yards and one touchdown.  His effort helped SDSU snap a six-game losing streak against the Cougars dating back to 2006 when BYU was still a member of the Mountain West.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake learned Saturday the Aztecs are no longer the team they faced years ago, and Aztecs defense lives up to its elite billing.

Aztecs defense forced three turnovers, two by safety Tariq Thompson, and limited BYU’s scoring capability to a sole field goal.  Prior to this game, BYU’s offense averaged 39.8 points during a five-game winning streak that ended against the Aztecs.

This season, Aztecs defense allowed an average of 11.7 points a game when it was on the field, which ranks among the top six teams in the nation.

“Now that the regular season is over, I think our defense played as well as any defense I’ve ever been around,” Rocky Long said. “In the 10 years I’ve been here, that’s by far the best defensive performance when you count from the first game to the last game.”

Rocky Long’s Aztecs shed light on the veneer of improvement that came from a five-game winning streak against two good mid-major programs Boise State and Utah State- followed up by three serious lightweights Liberty, FCS Idaho State, and UMass.

San Diego State put on display exactly why they ranked in the top 10 among FBS defenses in both points and yards allowed, as they turned the Cougars flat and walked away victorious while debuting a quarterback.

BYU will need a strong showing in their bowl game to turn around the perception that they are treading water as an independent program.

In their yet-to-be-determined bowl game, San Diego State will have a good opportunity to realize their fourth ten-win season over the last five years.