Utah State took another step toward an improbable Mountain West title late Friday with a 72-60 victory over Air Force that pushed the Aggies to 24-5 overall, 12-4 in the league. They’re currently alone atop the MWC standings with just two regular-season games remaining, this after being picked ninth in the preseason media poll, largely because they returned literally zero players who scored a point for Utah State last season.
Expectations were low. The Aggies have exceeded them all.
Regardless, first-year coach Danny Sprinkle acknowledged to The San Diego Union Tribune last month that, yes, there were times when he wondered exactly what he’d got himself into after a four-year run at Montana State.
“It was hard,” Sprinkle said. “That’s just the truthful answer. It was [hard] every day.”
Boise State is a half-game back of Utah State in the MWC standings heading into Saturday’s game with New Mexico. If the Broncos lose, Utah State would then need only to split its final two games against San Jose State (away) and New Mexico (home) to ensure at least a share of the conference championship. Winning out would also obviously guarantee at least a share of the conference championship regardless of what Boise State or anybody else does.
Utah State is No. 13 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the 11th consecutive day. The Boilermakers, led by CBS Sports National Player of the Year favorite Zach Edey, are 25-3 overall, 14-3 in the Big Ten. They’re a national-best 15-3 in the first two quadrants with 9 Q1 wins and zero losses outside of Q1. They also rank No. 1 in strength of record.
Saturday’s Top 25 And 1 rankings
