Trey Kell and San Diego State will try to help the league emerge from its steep decline. (AP) Yahoo Sports will break down the top 10 leagues for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 10 to No. 1. Here’s a look at our No. 9 league, the Mountain West.

Three years after it finished first in conference RPI, sent five teams to the NCAA tournament and briefly eclipsed the Pac-12 as the West’s best league, the Mountain West sunk to unimaginable depths last spring.
The league finished outside the RPI top 10 for the second straight season and put only one team in the NCAA tournament. After Fresno State upset regular season champ San Diego State in the Mountain West title game, the Bulldogs landed a No. 14 seed and bowed out meekly in the round of 64 against Utah.
Such futility raises two obvious questions: How did the league tumble so far so quickly and is it poised to recover some pride this season?
Any explanation of the Mountain West’s fall begins with the struggles of two of its flagship programs. UNLV and New Mexico have combined for one NCAA tournament appearance and zero NIT bids or postseason victories over the last three seasons.
The Rebels failed to parlay Dave Rice’s star-laden recruiting classes into winning seasons and then endured a messy coaching change. The Lobos were not able to sustain the success of the Steve Alford era once his last batch of stars graduated.
With UNLV and New Mexico in decline and none of the league’s mid-tier programs achieving consistent success, the Mountain West has only been able to count on San Diego State to be nationally relevant year-in, year-out. The Aztecs went 25-9 and finished three or more games ahead of their Mountain West peers, yet they settled for an NIT bid because some damaging non-league losses and the weakness of the league devalued their record in the eyes of the selection committee.
San Diego State is again favored to claim at least a share of the Mountain West title this season for the sixth time in seven years. While the departure of underappreciated rim protector Skylar Spencer could weaken the Aztecs’ always formidable defense, they could compensate for that if an infusion of new talent boosts a sputtering offense.
Transition opportunities have been scarce for a San Diego State team that has finished 300th or lower in tempo the past three years, but Steve Fisher hopes roster depth enables the Aztecs to run more. They also have more shooters on the roster this year, from all-league guard Trey Kell, to talented but erratic forward Malik Pope, to a now-healthy Matt Shrigley, to sweet-shooting Indiana transfer Max Hoetzel.
If the shooters space the floor and open driving lanes for Kell, point guard Jeremy Hemsley and slashing swingmen Zylan Cheatham and Montague “Teki” Gill-Caesar, that would be a huge development for San Diego State. It would also help solidify the Aztecs as a potential Top 25 team if Hemsley limited his turnovers and made a substantial sophomore leap or if Pope finally produced the breakout season that has been anticipated since he arrived three years ago.
While rival UNLV is headed for a rebuilding season after an offseason rife with coaching chaos and player defections, Nevada and New Mexico both possess the talent to challenge San Diego State.
After winning 24 games and a CBI title last March, the Wolf Pack could be poised for an even bigger breakthrough this season. Second-year coach Eric Musselman has made Nevada a destination for high-major-caliber recruits and prized transfers.
Sophomore Cameron Oliver blossomed into a 20-point, 10-rebound threat late last season and could be the Mountain West’s top big man this year. He’ll have plenty of promising newcomers around him, from high-scoring ex-Missouri State guard Marcus Marshall, to freshman point guard Devearl Ramsey, to transfer forwards Jordan Caroline (Southern Illinois) and Leland King (Brown).
This should be New Mexico coach Craig Neal’s best team since his debut season when he won 27 games with holdovers from the Alford era. The Lobos return four starters including league player of the year candidate Elijah Brown, but Neal’s team will have to do a better job stopping dribble penetration and contesting shots at the rim to have a chance to win the league.
The Mountain West doesn’t appear to have much depth beyond its top three this season, but if a surprise team emerges, Fresno State or Utah State could be it. Without league player of the year Marvelle Harris, the Bulldogs will lean on Colorado transfer Jaron Hopkins and hope to get heralded Australian guard William McDowell-White eligible by midseason. Utah State will try to ascend in the standings behind the one-two punch of versatile swingman Jalen Moore and point guard Shane Rector.
You can bet the 10 other Mountain West schools will have no bigger backer than San Diego State, which desperately needs the rest of the league to pull its own weight.
The Mountain West will still be a shadow of what it was in its 2011-2013 heyday, but if the Aztecs, Nevada and New Mexico can pick up some marquee non-conference wins, at least the league should be able to avoid a repeat of last year’s one-bid embarrassment.
MOUNTAIN WEST PROJECTIONS
1. San Diego State
2. Nevada
3. New Mexico
4. Fresno State
5. Utah State
6. Colorado State
7. Wyoming
8. Boise State
9. Air Force
10. UNLV
11. San Jose State
FIRST-TEAM ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
G Gian Clavell, Sr., Colorado State
G Elijah Brown, Jr., New Mexico
G Trey Kell, Jr., San Diego State
G/F Jalen Moore, Sr., Utah State
F Cameron Oliver, So., Nevada
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cameron Oliver, Nevada
MAKING A LIST
Best shooter: Jason McManamen, Wyoming. In a 18-loss rebuilding season, the one thing Wyoming did well was shoot threes. The Cowboys sank 9.9 attempts per game from behind the arc, by far the most in the Mountain West. Fueling that effort was McManamen, a breakout star last season after playing sparingly his first two years. The senior guard hit 44.7 percent of his threes, second to Utah State’s Chris Smith in the Mountain West and 15th best nationally.
Best playmaker: Gian Clavell, Colorado State. A potent scorer who can also create for his teammates too, Clavell will be responsible for doing it all for shorthanded Colorado State this season. The 6-foot-4 junior college transfer from Puerto Rico was averaging 20.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists through 10 games last season before a shoulder injury sidelined him the rest of the year.

Best defender: Cameron Oliver, Nevada. Thunderous dunks may be what Oliver is best known for, but he’s very effective at the other end of the floor too. The athletic 6-foot-8 sophomore set a school single-season record for blocked shots as a freshman and averaged 8.8 rebounds per game. He holds his position well defending the post, he uses his physical tools well on the glass and while he’s not a classic rim protector, he’s extremely adept at rotating off his man and swatting away a shot.
Top NBA prospect: Malik Pope, San Diego State. Even though Pope has all the requisite physical tools to thrive as a combo forward in the NBA, he has only taken advantage of them sporadically at San Diego State. The skilled 6-foot-10 junior boasts 3-point range, formidable wingspan and the ability to guard multiple positions, but too often he isn’t fully engaged on defense or he takes an ill-advised shot on offense. Nonetheless, he’s young for his age and he averaged 12.3 points and 6.4 rebounds last March, a potential springboard into a strong junior season.
Best backcourt: San Diego State. One of the biggest reasons San Diego State is favored to repeat as Mountain West champs is its deep, talented perimeter corps headlined by returning starters Jeremy Hemsley and Trey Kell. Hemsley could blossom into the league’s best point guard if he learns to make better decisions with the ball in his hands and Kell is an all-league wing who can score off the bounce or via his jump shot. Missouri transfer Montague “Teki” Gill-Caesar is a 6-foot-6 slasher and veteran Dakarai Allen provides defense and leadership.
Best frontcourt: Nevada. The centerpiece is Oliver, who averaged 13.4 points and 9.1 rebounds as a freshman despite not consistently logging 30 minutes per game until conference play began. He possesses the shooting ability, athleticism and defensive prowess to contend for Mountain West player of the year after being the league’s top freshman last year. Elijah Foster is a returning starter alongside Oliver, however, he could cede playing time to promising 6-foot-7 Jordan Caroline and Brown transfer Leland King.
Best recruiting class: San Diego State. While San Diego State missed on some of its top targets and landed only one high school prospect, the Aztecs made up for it on the transfer market. Ex-Missouri swingman Montague “Teki” Gill-Caesar is a potential impact player at both ends of the floor, ex-Washington State center Valentine Izundu should replace some of the rim protection Skylar Spencer has previously provided and ex-Indiana forward Max Hoetzel brings much-needed outside shooting.
Coach on the rise: Eric Musselman, Nevada. A surprise 24-game winner in Musselman’s debut season, Nevada could be poised to make another leap this year. Not only do the Wolf Pack return league player of the year candidate Cameron Oliver and standout guard D.J. Fenner, they also add a handful of impact newcomers including high-scoring Missouri State transfer Marcus Marshall and promising freshmen Josh Hall and Devearl Ramsey. With several more coveted transfers on the way and proven recruiters Dave Rice and Yanni Hufnagel joining the staff, Nevada is poised to contend in the Mountain West for years to come. The only concern is Musselman parlaying his success into a higher-profile job.
Coach on the hot seat: Craig Neal, New Mexico. A Lobos program accustomed to making the NCAA tournament and contending for league titles under Steve Alford dipped badly under his successor the past two years. New Mexico finished below .500 during the 2014-15 season and then went 17-15 last year even though the Mountain West was as bad as it has been in a decade. With four starters back including star Elijah Brown, New Mexico is poised to reassert itself as a league title contender. That’s exactly what Neal needs to happen to relieve the pressure on him.
FACTS AND FIGURES
New coaches: Marvin Menzies, UNLV
Regular-season winner last season: San Diego State
Tourney winner last season: Fresno State
League RPI rank in each of past 3 seasons: 2016-17: 12th, 2014-15: 11th, 2013-14: 10th
NCAA bids the past three seasons: 6 (San Diego State 2, Fresno State, New Mexico, Boise State, Wyoming)
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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