Who Is The Best Mountain West Basketball Team?
In the KenPom era, who is the best Mountain West team.
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The best 16 teams are…
There is nothing that can truly fill the void of missing out on the most magical time of the year for college basketball. We all know that. There’s nothing that can be done about it now.
For people like me, the excess time lets my mind wander and imagine things. Those thought experiments can be pretty entertaining for those that are into that sort of thing. This is the result of one of those thought experiments.
Over the course of the season a common question among San Diego State fans was “who would win, this 2020 Aztecs team or the 2011 Aztecs team?” It got me curious, and I thought I would expand that question to the whole mountain west conference. Which team would come out of a playoff series on top?
To determine this I went to Ken Pom and found the 16 best teams since 2002 (as far back as KenPom goes). It would’ve been easy to say “This team has the best efficiency, so they’re the best team.” It would be more fun, however, to make a game out of it.
The game is a 16 team playoff, using rules similar to the NBA playoffs. Each series is a best of 7, with home courts alternating in a 2-2-1-1-1 pattern. The last team standing is the best team in Mountain West history.
Seeds were determined by the adjusted efficiency metric used by KenPom. The most efficient team got the 1 seed, the second most efficient team got the 2 seed, and so on. In order to determine which team is the champion, each team will be put in the bracket, with the No. 1 seed facing the 16 seed, the 2 seed facing the 15 seed, and so on.
The games will be played using the What If Sports simulator to determine the best team ever.
Here are the 16 teams who will compete:
- 2011 San Diego State 24.98
- 2020 San Diego State 24.48
- 2010 BYU 23.27
- 2011 BYU 23.22
- 2014 San Diego State 20.38
- 2005 Utah 20.33
- 2007 Air Force 20.20
- 2009 BYU 20.10
- 2012 New Mexico 19.45
- 2013 Colorado State 19.12
- 2013 New Mexico 19.02
- 2018 Nevada 18.39
- 2019 Nevada 18.18
- 2009 Utah 17.80
- 2011 UNLV 17.75
- 2003 BYU 17.68
Round 1 matchups:
- No. 1 2011 San Diego State vs. No. 16 2003 BYU
- 2020 San Diego State vs. 2011 UNLV
- 2010 BYU vs. 2009 Utah
- 2011 BYU vs. 2019 Nevada
- 2014 San Diego State vs. 2018 Nevada
- 2005 Utah vs. 2013 New Mexico
- 2007 Air Force vs. 2013 Colorado State
- 2009 BYU vs. 2012 New Mexico
Here are the 16 teams who will compete with mini preview
No. 1 2011 San Diego State: Led by all American Kawhi Leonard, this team achieved a record of 34-3. They peaked at 4 in the AP poll, and they lost to eventual champion UConn in the sweet 16.
Pace: Snail slow
Strengths: Defense, Defensive rebounding, Offensive rebounding.
Weaknesses: three-point shooting, free throw rate.
2. 2020 San Diego State: Led by all American Malachi Flynn this team achieved an overall record of 30-2 and peaked at No. 4 in the AP poll in the season shortened by the coronavirus.
Pace: Snail slow
Strength: Shooting, defense, ball security
Weaknesses: Free throw rate, size, depth.
3. 2010 BYU: Led by Jimmer Fredette, this team amassed a record of 30-6. They peaked at 12 in the AP poll and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Pace: Lightning fast
Strengths: Three point shooting, free throw shooting, ball security
Weaknesses: offensive rebounding, experience.
4. 2011 BYU: Led by 1st Team All American, Wooden award, and Naismith award winner, Jimmer Fredette, this team achieved a record of 32-5. They peaked at No. 3 in the AP poll, they were one of only two teams to beat SDSU in the 2011 season and made it to the Sweet 16.
Pace: Super fast
Strengths: Ball security, shooting, size
Weaknesses: Offensive rebounding, forcing turnovers
5. 2014 San Diego State: Led by MW POY Xavier Thames, this team achieved a record of 31-5. They peaked at No. 5 in the AP poll and reached the Sweet 16.
Pace: Slow
Strengths: Contesting shots, blocking shots, forcing turnovers.
Weaknesses: Two-point shooting, 3pt shooting, FT shooting.
6. 2005 Utah: Led by National POY and First team All American Andrew Bogut, this team achieved a record of 29-6. They peaked at 13th in the AP poll, and reached the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Pace: Super slow
Strengths: Two-point shooting, defensive rebounding, offensive rebounding.
Weaknesses: forcing turnovers, committing turnovers
7. 2007 Air Force: Led by Dan Nwaelele, this team achieved a record of 26-9, and a much better KenPom rating than their record would suggest. They peaked at 13 in the AP poll, and made it to the semifinals of the NIT.
Pace: Snail Slow
Strengths: Shooting from anywhere, ball security, experience
Weaknesses: Offensive rebounding, rim protection, depth.
8. 2009 BYU: Led by Jimmer Fredette (apparently he was pretty good, seeing as this is his third appearance on this list), this team achieved a record of 25-8. They peaked at 25 in the AP poll and lost in the round of 64 in the NCAA tournament.
Pace: Fast
Strengths: Shooting from anywhere, ball security, defensive rebounding
Weaknesses: offensive rebounding, depth
9. 2012 New Mexico: Led by future pro Drew Gordon, this team achieved a record of 28-7. They reached at 18 in the AP poll, and made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament.
Pace: Average
Strengths: Ball movement, two-point defense, three-pont shooting
Weaknesses: Ball security
10. 2013 Colorado State: Led by Colton Iverson, this team achieved a record of 26-9. They reached a high at 22 in the AP poll, and made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual champion Louisville.
Pace: Average
Strengths: Offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, drawing fouls.
Weaknesses: Depth, rim protection, forcing turnovers
11. 2013 New Mexico: Led by conference POY Kendall Williams, this team achieved a record of 29-6, and was upset by Harvard in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They finished ranked 10th in the AP poll.
Pace: Slightly less than average
Strengths: Ball movement, two-point defense, drawing fouls
Weaknesses: Offensive rebounding, two-point shooting, three-point defense.
12. 2018 Nevada: Led by Mountain West player of the year in Caleb Martin, this team achieved a record of 29-8 behind one of the most prolific offenses in conference history. They peaked at 20 in the AP poll. They orchestrated an amazing second half comeback against No. 2 seed Cincinnati in the round of 32 and lost to Cinderella Loyola Chicago in the Sweet 16.
Pace: Faster than average.
Strengths: Three-point shooting, three-point defense, ball security
Weaknesses: Two-point defense, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding
13. 2019 Nevada: Led by first-team all-conference players Caleb Martin and Jordan Caroline, Nevada achieved a record of 29-5. They reached a high of No. 5 in the AP poll, and they followed up their Sweet 16 season with a first round loss against Florida.
Pace: Faster than Average
Strengths: Experience, 2 pt shooting, ball security
Weaknesses: Depth, Offensive rebounding, FT shooting
No. 14 2009 Utah: Led by MW POY Luke Nevill Utah achieved a record of 24-10. They did reach the 25th spot in the AP poll. They made it to the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Pace: Average
Strengths: Two-point shooting, Size, defensive rebounding
Weaknesses: Offensive rebounding, forcing turnovers, depth
15. 2011 UNLV: Led by Chance Stanback UNLV achieved a record of 24-9 in Lon Kruger’s last year as head coach of UNLV. They had a high ranking of 20 in the AP poll. They made it to the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Pace: Slightly faster than average
Strengths: Forcing turnovers, two-point defense, two-point offense
Weaknesses: Three-point shooting, free throw shooting, foul prone.
16, 2003 BYU: Led by Travis Hansen, this team achieved a record of 23-9. The Cougars made it to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pace: Slow
Strengths: Drawing fouls, three-point defense, defensive rebounding
Weaknesses: Very foul prone, offensive rebounding
