1. Colorado State Rams (11-1, 0-0)

The Rams have cracked the Top 15 in the polls, and rightly so. They were ranked as high as 13th in December, the highest ranking in school history.

CSU polished off the nonconference portion of the season with a 45-point win over D-II Adams State, picking up four wins over power conference opponents, with the lone loss coming in a three-point loss to Saint Mary’s.

The Rams are shooting an NCAA-leading 52.4% from the floor with Isaiah Stevens averaging 17.3 points per game to lead CSU.

Conference play will open with New Mexico at home and a trip to Utah State. It is early and we have not even seen a conference game played but the Rams look like a team that could be poised for a deep run in March.

2. San Diego State Aztecs (11-2, 0-0)

The Aztecs fell to BYU and Grand Canyon in the nonconference but picked up some solid wins over Saint Mary’s, Washington, Cal, and Stanford and a huge victory over Gonzaga in Spokane.

Jaedon Lee has been outstanding this season, averaging 21.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per outing. Lee collected six double-doubles during the nonconference.

After opening 1-1 following the loss in Provo it looked like the Aztecs may have a dip from their run to the National Championship game last season, but any lingering issues appear fixed as we enter 2024.

3. Nevada Wolf Pack (13-1, 0-0)

Nevada’s 13 wins are tied for the most in the nation as the calendar turns over to 2024, and tied for the most wins entering conference play all-time by a Wolf Pack team.

Steve Alford’s crew won the Diamond Head Classic, picking up wins over TCU and Georgia Tech en route to the title.

Jarod Lucas and Kenan Blackshear are leading the way in the scoring department in the first 14 games. Nick Davidson is providing double-digit scoring and seven rebounds per game while playing 25 minutes a game.

4. New Mexico Lobos (12-1, 0-0)

The Lobos have won 11 straight games since a loss at Saint Mary’s, and New Mexico has been rolling.

UNM has a trio of scorers in Jamal Mashburn, Jaelen House, and JT Toppin. Toppin may end up being the top freshman in the conference and Mashburn could be the Player of the Year at the end of the season.

The Lobos did not have any huge wins in the nonconference but did pick up a win at home over Louisianna Tech and a neutral site win over Santa Clara.

Their 11-game win streak is tied for the fourth-longest run in the nation.

5. Utah State Aggies (12-1, 0-0)

The Aggies lost a lot from last year’s team.

Great Osobor and Darius Brown II both followed Danny Sprinkle from Montana State and have provided the Aggies with double-figure scoring. Osobor leads the team with 17.3 per game.

Following a loss at Bradley, the Aggies won their final 11 games of the nonconference slate. That streak heading into conference play is tied with New Mexico for the longest in the league and is the fourth-longest in the nation.

The schedule has not been the most dauting to date but USU did collect a pair of wins over Santa Clara and San Francisco.

6. Boise State Broncos (9-4, 0-0)

The Broncos have dropped four of their first 13 games but are a bit more battle-tested than some of their conference rivals.

BSU has a win over Saint Mary’s and faced stiff competition in the ESPN Events Tournament in Orlando with losses to Virginia Tech and Butler sandwiched around a win over VCU.

Boise also traveled to Clemson and fell to Washington State in Spokane.

The Broncos are 7-0 inside ExtraMile Arena this season, running their home-court win streak to 21 games, the longest active streak in the nation.

7. UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (6-5, 0-0)

The Rebels have not had the best start to the 2023-24 season but have shown spurts of playing good basketball.

They picked up a win over Creighton, giving them their first win over a Top 10 nonconference opponent since December 2014.

They took Saint Mary’s to double overtime and played Florida State tough but opened the season with an inexplicable loss to Southern at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Rebels have good balance on offense with five players averaging double-figures and seven players averaging at least eight points per outing.

That is the kind of across-the-board scoring that harks back to San Diego State last season with a different player stepping up each game.

The issue in the early season has been consistency and the Rebels need to get that figured out heading into conference play.

8. San Jose State Spartans (7-6, 0-0)

San Jose State enters conference play having lost four of their last six games.

The Spartans are only forcing a turnover on 17.0% of opponent possessions, which ranks 186th in the nation. San Jose State has to create more chances.

The Spartans are doing a good job of keeping possession with a turnover rate of their own of just 14.9%, the 59th-best in the nation.

Last year, San Jose State was the eighth-best rebounding team in the nation, this season the Spartans rank 292nd with a total rebound rate of 47.0%.

9. Wyoming Cowboys (7-6, 0-0)

Wyoming is 4-1 this season at home, but they have not played inside the Arena-Auditorium in three weeks, posting a disappointing 3-5 mark away from home.

Wyoming leads the Conference and ranks sixth in the nation shooting 40.8% on three-pointers. The problem is inside the arc, where the Cowboys are 281st in the nation shooting 46.9% on two-point FGs.

The Cowboys rank a dismal 277th in the nation shooting 52.1% on non-blocked two-point attempts.

10. Air Force Falcons (7-5, 0-0)

Air Force is getting after things on the defensive end of the court this season. They lead the Conference in blocked shots per game and are second in points allowed per outing.

The Falcons have a blocked shot rate of 9.2% this season, the 20th-best rate in the country.

Air Force enters Mountain West play having lost three in a row by a combined 12 points.

11. Fresno State Bulldogs (7-6, 0-0)

The Bulldogs are 6-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points in a game. The issue is Fresno State is barely averaging 70 points per game at 70.9.

If 70 is going to be the threshold for them this season, they will need to start putting it in the basket more effectively. The Bulldogs rank 213th in the nation in offensive efficiency and 192nd in defensive efficiency.