Gonzaga climbs, Utah State pulls off upside surprise

Washington State cannot lay sole claim to the biggest upside surprise in the west this season.

The second-place Cougars have overshot their preseason projection in the Pac-12 race (10th) by a whopping eight spots.

But Utah State has done the same.

The Aggies, picked ninth in the Mountain West preseason media poll, are currently alone in first place and have pulled off their feat in a more difficult conference. The MW has a deeper well of quality teams, and likely NCAA Tournament participants, than the Pac-12.

Danny Sprinkle doesn’t appear on many national Coach of the Year lists, but Utah State’s first-year boss has conjured a remarkable season from the Aggies.

Then again, Sprinkle’s success at his alma mater, Montana State, which included NCAA Tournament berths in 2022 and 2023, suggested he would turn the Aggies into a contender — just not in Year 1.

They were gutted by attrition, to the point that none of Utah State’s returning players recorded a statistic last season.

“It’s crazy,” Sprinkle said during a Mountain West preseason media event, “no points, no rebounds, no assists.”

But like Kyle Smith at Washington State, Sprinkle leaned heavily into the transfer portal, found players who fit his system and were willing to take a leap of faith with the reclamation project.

Months later, the Aggies have a half-game lead over Nevada, Boise and UNLV in the jammed Mountain West race. They seemingly are safely in the NCAAs with an 8-5 record against Quadrant I and II opponents and skeptics, including the Hotline, have been resoundingly silenced.

They are, like WSU, quite the story.

To the latest Best of the West rankings …

Also considered: Eastern Washington, Grand Canyon, Nevada, San Francisco, Santa Clara, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UNLV and Utah

1. Arizona (23-6/14-4)

Last week: 1
Results: won at Arizona State 85-67, beat Oregon 103-83
NET ranking: No. 4
Next up: at UCLA (Thursday)
Comment: Are the Wildcats in full control of their No. 1 seed destiny in the NCAAs? Maybe not. Tennessee could overtake them with a stellar run to the SEC tournament title.

2. Brigham Young (21-8/9-7 Big 12)

Last week: 2
Results: beat TCU 87-75
NET ranking: No. 12
Next up: at Iowa State (Wednesday)
Comment: The inspired performance against TCU came a few days after BYU’s gritty win over a mid-level Big 12 foe in Lawrence, Kan.

3. Washington State (23-7/14-5)

Last week: 4
Results: beat USC 75-72 and UCLA 77-65
NET ranking: No. 39
Next up: vs. Washington (Thursday)
Comment: The Cougars could lose to the Huskies and drop their first Pac-12 tournament game and still be a single-digit seed in the NCAAs. And who the heck figured that would ever be the case?

4. Gonzaga (24-6/14-2 WCC)

Last week: 6
Results: won at San Francisco 86-68 and Saint Mary’s 70-57
NET ranking: No. 17
Next up: vs. TBD in WCC tournament
Comment: Tremendous finish for the Zags, who were a two-point home loss to Saint Mary’s and a one-point road loss to Santa Clara from a perfect conference season.

5. Saint Mary’s (24-7/15-1 WCC)

Last week: 3
Results: won at Pepperdine 83-57, lost to Gonzaga 70-57
NET ranking: No. 18
Next up: vs. TBD in WCC tournament
Comment: Will it matter that the Gaels are paired with Santa Clara rather than San Francisco in the WCC semifinals? Probably not. They swept both during the regular season.

6. San Diego State (22-8/11-6 MW)

Last week: 5
Results: lost at UNLV 62-58
NET ranking: No. 19
Next up: vs. Boise State (Friday)
Comment: No reason to fret, yet. Good teams lose close games on the road; it’s the nature of conference play.

7. Oregon (19-10/11-7)

Last week: 7
Results: beat Oregon State 78-71, lost at Arizona 103-83
NET ranking: No. 64
Next up: vs. Colorado (Thursday)
Comment: At least the Ducks know exactly what they need to do: Win the Pac-12 tournament. The at-large path into the NCAAs appears blocked.