We are already two weeks into the college baseball season, and the Mountain West has been busy to start the season. Some teams have already made their mark, with one going undefeated through eight games, while others have been struggling to find its bearings against tough tournament pulls and out-of-conference foes.
There has been some shuffling to the conference power rankings, as four teams are now in different spots since our preseason rankings. Here’s the updated list going into the final week
of February.
- Fresno State (prev: 2)
Don’t let the 3-3 record fool you; Fresno State was highly competitive in its first few series. The Bulldogs opened up with a three-game series against Utah, winning one out of three but only losing by scores of 5-4 and 8-3.
Fresno State then began a four-game series against Pepperdine, winning two out of the first three games (the final game of the series had not been played yet at the time of this publication). Despite the .500 record, Fresno State has actually outscored its opponents 43-36 while holding them to a .255 batting average. The pitching staff struck out 44 with a 1.50 WHIP while its offense hit .269 with a .737 OPS.
- Nevada (prev: 1)
The Wolf Pack started the 2026 season in a tough SEC matchup against Ole Miss. The Rebels outscored the Pack 29-6 en route to a three-game sweep. While Nevada was only competitive in one of those games (a 5-1 loss in the second game of the series), not a lot of teams scheduled power opponents early on,
Nevada fought back to a 3-3 record in a three-game sweep against Utah Valley at home, including an extra inning walk off from sophomore third baseman Sean Yamaguchi in the final match up against the Wolverines. The Pack would’ve probably fallen down one or two spots if it wasn’t for the lack of prestige other top-tier Mountain West programs faced, so we will be leaving them at the runner up spot early on.
- New Mexico (prev: 3)
The Lobos are the only undefeated team in the conference at a perfect 8-0. Why are they not the No. 1 team, you may ask? All eight of New Mexico’s wins were Quad 4 wins with a non-conference strength of schedule ranking of 254, as their Mountain West rivals are facing teams like Ole Miss, Nebraska, UConn, Oklahoma State and others.
While the Lobos’ offense was dominant, matchups against Fordham and Northern Colorado won’t move the needle too much this early in the season. New Mexico outscored its opponents 108-49, including a 24-5 in its final game against Fordham, but when facing D2 schools as a potential contender for the Mountain West Conference title, that is the expectation, keeping the Lobos in a safe three spot.
- San Diego State (prev: 4)
San Diego State started hot with a three-game sweep of LIU before falling to UC Irvine in a 5-2 game. The best game for the Aztecs so far came in a 3-0 win over BYU, in which pitcher Rohan Lettow struck out 10 batters in the shutout victory.
SDSU dropped its next two games, falling 7-0 to Utah and 15-4 to San Diego. It was a balanced offensive performance for the Aztecs, while the pitching showed great promise, including 91 total strikeouts through seven games. This back and forth of great performances in some areas while faltering in others, with games of excellence and silence compounding the inconsistency, is what prevented the Aztecs from leap-frogging any teams yet. But with that win against BYU and sweep of LIU, SDSU has proven they deserve a top-four spot early on.
- UNLV (prev: 5)
UNLV opened with a 7-3 win over Austin Peay on the backs of crisp pitching by Carson Lane and Jase Evangelista, who combined to allow just three hits. The Rebels split that series before sweeping Bradley in three games, which included a dramatic 12-9 win in game two, erasing a 6-0 deficit with a nine-run seventh inning.
The Rebels batted .341 as a team compared to their opponents, who batted just .211 through seven games. The mix of great plate presence while demanding respect on the mound has been a treat to see. However, the Rebels have faced lack-luster opponents overall in comparison to their Mountain West peers, which does keep them right in the middle of the conference rankings.
- GCU (prev: 6)
The Lopes were a late addition to the conference, and while some were wondering if they would make splashes in their new home, they have been drops in the ocean so far. Also competing in the Desert Invitational MLB Classic, GCU opened with a 10-0, seven inning mercy rule against Northeastern. Penn State and Nebraska followed right afterwards, but squashed GCU 3-9 and 1-9 respectively.
Opening home play against Oklahoma State, a program that has been prevalent in the national college baseball conversation over the last few years, isn’t the way most would want to try and bounce back, which did ultimately spell ruin for GCU. After taking the first game 12-8, the Lopes were outscored 10-32 in the next four games, only competing in the third game (lost 7-10) while getting mercied in seven innings 2-13 to end the weekend. We are giving GCU a bit of a grace and keeping them at six due to the competition they faced so far, but the ice is very thin for the Antelopes going forward.
- San Jose State (prev: 7)
Looking to make a name for themselves early, SJSU traveled a short distance to take on Long Beach State. After dominating the first game 8-0 and losing the second in a disastrous 3-12 result, the Spartans took the series in the rubber match in a close 3-2 win against the Sharks, seemingly ready to take a top mantle early in the Mountain West if the trends could continue.
Things did take a turn for the worse, though, as after losing 6-8 on the road against Santa Clara, San Jose State dropped their opening home game to the San Francisco University Dons 6-7 in extra innings. And although they were able to take the second game 7-3, the Spartans fell in the final game (which switched to San Francisco being the home program) 3-9. SJSU has been competitive in most of their games, but being a dominant team some games while being silenced the others with almost little middle ground is not the way to climb the rankings.
- Air Force (prev: 9)
Air Force took flight in their first game of the season, beating the Penn State Nittany Lions 15-3 in eight innings in the Desert Invitational MLB Classic, which they followed up with a 12-6 win against the University of Connecticut Huskies two games later. Both programs were ranked in the top-100 last year in RPI rankings, which is old data, but is still something to go off of for their potential promise for the 2026 season.
However, these were the only two wins the Falcons have gotten so far, while losing to Iowa and Kansas State in between their triumphs and losing three straight against Navy (3-5), Army (3-11) and South Carolina (2-4), stalling their progression. Given the power of teams it faced and the fight they had against them, Air Force deserved to go up at least one spot, with more potentially coming if they can piece together games like they did in their opening tournament.
- Washington State (prev: 8)
Wazzu played arguably the hardest stretch to open the 2026 year, facing Alabama and Cal Poly in back-to-back road series. The Cougars were able to snatch a game from each program, starting the year with an 8-4 win against the Crimson Tide and ending the Mustangs series with an 8-3 result in their favor.
Despite their successes, the losses in-between were brutal, being outscored 2-19 in the final two games against Alabama (the final game finished in a mercy rule in the seventh inning) and 2-12 against Cal Poly. As much as we respect going up against a baseball powerhouse and dark horse from last season, being outscored by 29 runs in four games is not a great look, which has set them as the bottom team in our power rankings.
