BricksIt Weekly
The new map
In the new Mountain West, the road runs through the Pit
With five programs gone to the Pac-12, New Mexico is the best team in all six of our conferences. Nevada owns the league's best win. Grand Canyon is right there.
By the Hardwood Bricks desk
The Mountain West woke up this season with a different shape. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State are gone to the Pac-12, and a ten-team league is working out who sets the standard now.
So far the answer is New Mexico. The Lobos are 3-0 and have won all three games at the Pit by at least 25. Our model has them 26th nationally, the highest rating of any of the 67 teams Hardwood Bricks covers. Their first road test comes Saturday night at Santa Clara, which the model calls an 83-82 coin flip.
The best single win belongs to Nevada, 96-95 over Saint Mary's at Lake Tahoe last weekend. Three nights later the Wolf Pack lost 76-63 at UC Santa Barbara. That's November in one week. The model still has Nevada 68th, a whisker behind Grand Canyon (67th). The Lopes are 3-0 and have scored 99 in two straight games.
Then come the surprises. Air Force has scored 107 points twice in a week, which is not a sentence anyone expected to type about Air Force. Hawai'i is 3-1 after a home loss to Portland. Wyoming lost by 13 at North Carolina, which is about what the market expected.
Two marquee nights are coming. Stanford visits UNLV on Friday on CBS Sports Network, a game the model calls dead even at 78. Then UNLV goes to Kansas on Tuesday on ESPN, the league's biggest stage of the month.
Air Force, at 107
The Falcons beat Calumet St. Joseph 107-58 and Loyola Chicago 107-93. Against Loyola they were 12.5-point favorites and won by 14. The model still rates them 296th, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Nevada at Tahoe
The 96-95 win over Saint Mary's at the Tahoe Blue Event Center is the best neutral-site win by any team in our six conferences this season. The Wolf Pack host Utah Valley on Saturday.
Hawai'i drops one at home
Portland won 73-66 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors host Washington State on Wednesday night, which the model has as a three-point game.
Circle it
Stanford at UNLV, Friday, 9 p.m., CBS Sports Network. The model has it 78-78. You won't find a closer number this week.
By the numbers
The pecking order
Our model's rating for every Mountain West team: points better or worse than an average Division I team over 100 possessions. Record alongside.