Hoop it up
Lobos and MWC teams climbing in basketball polls
It’s getting harder and harder for the New Mexico Lobos to claim a lack of respect p from the national media.
The same is true for the Mountain West Conference.
The Lobos, boasting an 8-0 record after wins over Mercer and at Indiana State last week, moved up Monday in both major polls, jumping to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 20 in the USA Today coaches poll.
“That’s huge,” UNM coach Steve Alford said. “Recruits see that. Fans across the country see that so anytime your name just kind of gets out there like that, that’s all part of that national brand that we’ve been after. It’s big.”
UNM is one of three Mountain West teams to be ranked and one of six to receive votes in both polls. San Diego State (No. 17 AP, No. 15 coaches) and UNLV (21/18) were also ranked in each poll.
Boise State (6-1), which beat then-No. 11 Creighton last week, appeared on the ballots of eight of 65 AP voters with the highest ranking being No. 21. Wyoming (8-0), which beat then-No. 19 Colorado last week, was voted No. 25 by five voters. Colorado State (7-0) showed up on two ballots, the highest of which voted
the Rams No. 22.
For Wyoming, the last time the Cowboys received a vote in the AP poll was Feb. 24, 2003.
UNM was on 54 of the 65 possible ballots with the highest ranking coming from Keith Dunleavy of the Washington Examiner newspaper in Springfield, Va., voting the Lobos No. 12.
“It’s impressive what our league has been doing,” Lobos center Alex Kirk said. “It’s impressive when you see a pretty good Colorado team go into a real hard place to play like Wyoming (and lose). It’s nice to see that our league is winning some of these games.”
Alford said the league recognition is a good sign in general, but also one that the Lobos are in for along year.
“We know we have a high ceiling yet and that’s why we’ve got to keep getting better because once January hits,” Alford said, “I think this schedule is going to end up being brutal. (Mountain West play) is shaping up to be as good as its ever been.”
BOISE STATE: The Broncos surprise run into the “others receiving votes” category of both major polls has been due to the stellar play of sophomore guard Derrick Marks, who on Monday was named the Mountain West Player of the Week.
Marks scored a combined 49 points in two Boise State wins last week, including 35 (and 18 straight at one point) in the team’s win at No. 11 Creighton. He’s averaging 18.7 points per game this season.
Before the season, Boise State coach Leon Rice told the Journal there was no clearer an indication of things to come than Marks.
“When I talk about our team improving, maybe individuals improving, maybe
the guy who improved the most is Derrick Marks,” Rice told the Journal. “I think he’s got a tremendous upside still. He’s going to continue to get better because he’s starting to really figure it out.”
In addition to the win over Creighton, Boise State lost by four at then-No. 15 Michigan State and has beat its other five opponents by an average of more than 14 points per game.
WRATH OF LOBO NATION: Seth Davis seems to have taken on Public Enemy No. 1 status among many Lobo faithful.
The Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports college basketball reporter/analyst is among the 11 AP voters who did not include UNM on his ballot this week, but he was the most vocal in his criticism.
After he published his ballot Sunday evening on his Twitter account (@SethDavisHoops), Lobos fans took him to task. While he in the past week admit he was wrong when he previously published his opinion that New Mexico played a very week nonconference schedule, he didn’t back down from his opinion that the 8-0 Lobos have not yet earned his Top 25 consideration.
In one tweet he told a UNM fan he’s “Not underestimating. Just biding my time” before putting the Lobos on his ballot.
He later responded to a tweet asking him if he had a grudge against Alford by writing “Steve stole my lunch money.” In response to a tweet saying Davis “wishes he had Steve Alford’s hair!”, Davis replied “And his teeth. Steve has great teeth.”
On Monday, he tweeted, “People like to say college hoops polls don’t matter but nothing I write or say generates more heated conversation. Love it!!”