*With the Mountain West changing, I thought it would be fun to go back and highlight the best players, games, and teams since the last phase of conference realignment 13 years ago. Previously, I’ve covered Top 10 football players, Top 10 basketball players, Top 10 Football Teams, Top 10 Basketball Teams, and Top 10 Football Games. Today’s list covers the top 10 Men’s Basketball Games
I mentioned in my last piece that I get a lot of data from collegefootballdata.com. Well, turns out they have a sister
site called collegebasketballdata.com. So I again decided to use their resources to make a list of the ten best games since 2013, when the conference last went through major realignment.
As they did with football, each game was given an “Excitement Index” that is based on large swings in win probability. Games that were upsets, were close throughout the game, or had wild endings ended up with higher excitement scores. However, those tend to get skewed by games where one team was a heavy favorite and played down to their competition. Other games don’t quite take in all relevant context, so in an attempt to do that, I made my own adjusted score I used to determine the rankings:
- Only games won by a Mountain West team were included.
- I normalized the Excitement Index, adjusting the values to be on a scale of 0 to 1, and multiplied by .6
- I did the same for the ELO score for each team to account for the quality of teams.
- I tried using KenPom ratings, but decided against it due to some technical issues.
- I added the normalized ELO score for both teams, and multiplied by .25
- I multiplied the sum of parts 1 and 3 by a Game Adjuster to account for context:
- 1.25 for conference games
- 1.5 for Conference Tournament Games
- 2 for March Madness Games
- 1 for all other games
Unfortunately, not every game had enough data to develop an Excitement Index, though those were primarily early-season games against lower-division teams that likely wouldn’t have scored high anyway. But if there’s an obvious omission — that might be why. In that case, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The other disclaimer is that the excitement of a game can’t always be represented in numbers. We’d love to hear about which games you enjoyed most in the comments.
I’ll keep my commentary to a minimum and let the attached highlights tell most of the story.
Honorable Mention
2018 Nevada 75, Cincinnati 73 (NCAA Tournament)
I don’t know enough about how the “Excitement Index” is calculated to critique it, but I was shocked this game didn’t appear higher (ranked #15 in the final adjusted ranking). Nevada overcame a 22-point deficit to beat #2-seeded Cincinnati, the second-biggest deficit in March Madness History.
Nevada does have a game from this tournament run, so they weren’t completely excluded. I wanted to make sure this game was highlighted in some capacity due to the furious comeback Nevada pulled off. If you go by ESPN’s in-game win probability, Cincinnati’s chances of winning never dipped below 89% through the first 35 minutes of the game. That was before Nevada went on a 25-8 run in the final ten minutes, finally taking the lead with 10 seconds left on a Josh Hall jump shot. Following the win, Eric Musselman said this;
“That locker room right now, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life”
10. 2024 San Diego State 69, UAB 65 (NCAA Tournament First Round)
Adjusted Excitement Score: 0.864
While the first half belonged to San Diego State, UAB started to climb back in the second. With about 10 minutes left in the game, UAB was on a 19-7 run fueled by some good shooting. They tied the game and briefly held a lead, but San Diego State did just enough at the end to hold them off. Their offense mostly struggled, but All-American Jaedon LeDee had a heck of a night, scoring 32 points and getting eight rebounds. Lamont Butler made some clutch shots towards the end as well, scoring 15.
9. 2014 San Diego State 73, New Mexico State 69 OT (NCAA Tournament First Round)
Adjusted Excitement Score 0.873
For the first half, San Diego State’s defense was great, holding New Mexico State to a season-low 20 points in the first half. Future two-time MW Defensive Player of the Year Skylar Spencer himself had eight combined blocks and steals. However, New Mexico State made some adjustments and managed to score 40 points in the second half.
New Mexico State was down by eight with two and a half minutes remaining. After a few shots, including hitting a three-pointer with nine seconds left, they managed to force overtime. San Diego State’s defense started to show life again, forcing New Mexico State to miss their first five shots in overtime, one due to a great block by Dwayne Polee. Their offense scored enough in overtime to win and move the team into the next round.
8. 2023 San Diego State 63, Charleston 57
Adjusted Excitement Score 0.890
San Diego State was the favorite for this game, but Charleston was on a hot streak, going nearly two months without a loss. Charleston took the lead early on, but guard Matt Bradley accounted for six points in about 60 seconds to give them a lead going into the half.
However, Charleston wouldn’t give up, tying the game at 53 points with about three minutes left. San Diego State’s offense stepped up, seeing more clutch shots from Bradley and a three from Micah Parish. Those two managed to close out the game with several free throws to put San Diego State into the second round for the first time since 2015.
7. 2025 Colorado State 78, Memphis 70
Adjusted Excitement Score: 0.893
The first half was neck and neck; neither team had a lead of more than five points. Memphis was playing as a 5-seed and Colorado State a 12-seed, but Colorado State was surprisingly the betting favorite. As far as why this game rated so highly, Colorado State’s offense in the second half was the reason; they scored 47 points.
Kyan Evans had a night to remember; he scored 23 points, including six three-pointers, both of which were career highs for him, along with four assists and two steals. Nique Clifford, coming off of being named the conference tournament MVP, had a well-rounded game with 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, including going 8-10 from the free throw line.
6. 2025 New Mexico 75, Marquette 66
Adjusted Excitement Score 0.895
The final score doesn’t show how close this game was; 11 different scoring plays either tied the game or gave one team the lead. Marquette was the favorite in this game, but didn’t play like it at first, with New Mexico leading most of the game and never were behind by more than three points. Marquette mainly stayed in the game due to some hot shooting from David Joplin, going 6-10 from beyond the arc.
However, New Mexico’s trio of Nelly Junior Joseph, Donovan Dent, and Tru Washington all had great offensive showings. They combined for 52 points, with Dent leading the bunch at 21, to go with six assists and two blocks. His performance further justified him being named the conference’s player of the year, while Washington and Mustapha Amzil each had three steals. Overall, the team held Marquette to 66 points, tied for their fifth-lowest on the year. New Mexico’s 10-0 late in the second half was what eventually put the game away, as Marquette couldn’t keep up after that.
5. 2023 San Diego State 57, Creighton 56
Adjusted Excitement Score:0.934
I will spoil this a little and say that the 2023 San Diego State team had several games on this list. I’ll be honest and admit that I’d forgotten how fun of a run they had in the tournament that year.
For most of this game, San Diego State looked like they’d be the ones going home. The three times they took the lead in the first half, Creighton took it back in less than a minute, and for the entire game, San Diego State’s biggest lead was just four points. The final seven minutes saw the game begin to turn in favor of the Aztec, but with 30 seconds to go, Creighton tied the game at 56 points.
The last possession for San Diego State was a roller coaster; Darrion Trammell went for a floater to take the lead as time expired, but missed. However, he was fouled, sending him to the line. Making either attempt would get the win, barring Creighton scoring with 1.2 seconds on the clock. Missing both wouldn’t result in a loss—it would send the game to overtime—but it would have killed any momentum San Diego State had. For a moment it looked that way, as Trammell missed the first free throw. I can’t blame Trammell if his heart rate was over 200 beats per minute on that last shot, since making it would essentially ice the game and send them to the Final Four. Even if he was nervous, Trammell didn’t look it, as he nailed the next one and extended San Diego’s legendary tournament run.
4. 2018 Nevada 87, Texas 83
Adjusted Excitement Score: 0.942
Nevada had gone 11 years without a win in the NCAA tournament, but had one of the more stacked rosters the conference has seen in 2018. Texas managed to get to a 14-point lead in the first half, but a great game by Caleb Martin (18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, 4-12 from three) helped Nevada stay in it. Kendall Stephens went 5-11 from deep while scoring 22 points, while Caleb’s brother Cody had four blocks against a good Texas front court. Caleb did have a chance to close out the game in regulation though, missing a free throw and a three-point attempt in the final five seconds; making either of them would have given Nevada the win. But Nevada still managed to force overtime.
The first half of overtime went back and forth with the two teams trading buckets. Martin, having made only one three-point shot in regulation, went 3-3 in overtime (also making up for his misses at the end of regulation), while his brother Cody had four points and an assist. That was enough for Nevada to move on to the second round and finish the upset.
3. 2023 San Diego State 72, Florida Atlantic 71
Adjusted Excitement Score:0.986
San Diego’s run to the championship game in 2023 can really be attributed to their defense; they finished top 30 in Division I for points allowed per game and defensive rating. However, they were pushed to their limit by Florida Atlantic, allowing a season-high 40 points in the first half. San Diego managed to slow Florida Atlantic enough in the second half, while the offense started to click.
Matt Bradley ended with 21 points, and Jaedon LeDee had 12 of his own. However, Lamont Butler was the one who made the most important shot. With five seconds left, Butler took the ball upcourt and made one of the most clutch shots in tournament history. He did a between-the-legs crossover before attempting a step-back jumper at the buzzer. It was the kind of shot you’d expect Kobe or Michael Jordan to attempt, one that every kid dreams of making. But Butler’s shot was perfect. Very few people can say they made a buzzer-beater with an appearance in the championship game on the line; Butler is one of them.
2. 2023 San Diego State 71, Alabama 64
Adjusted Excitement Score: 1.005
Alabama was a trendy pick to win the title going into the tournament. Alabama had one of the top offenses that year, averaging 81 points per game — seventh highest in the nation. They even had a projected top five pick in Brandon Miller. Despite that, it wasn’t until the 16-minute mark in the second half that either team had a lead greater than three points. Their 64 points were the third-lowest that year, and Miller went 3-19 from the field.
Eventually Alabama started to look like the favorite, building a nine-point lead with about 10 minutes left. But San Diego State was on a mission to cause as many heart attacks as possible. The Aztecs went on a 23-5 run to suddenly give them a 62-53 lead with three minutes left. Again referencing ESPN’s win probability, San Diego State went from a 10% chance of winning to 92% in the span of eight minutes.
Guard Darrion Trammell picked a great night to show off, scoring 21 points to tie his career high while also making a career-high nine field goals. Matt Bradley had an off night, only scoring one point through the first 35 minutes, but made three shots in the final few minutes to help seal the win. Of all the wins San Diego State had during their run to the title game, this was the most improbable of them all.
1. 2026 Grand Canyon 70, San Diego State 69
Adjusted Excitement Score: 1.056
I mentioned at the beginning that I didn’t exclusively go with the Excitement Index to make these rankings. That said, the value for this game was so high it didn’t matter what else I adjusted. collegebasketballdata.com gave exactly two Mountain West games over the past 13 years an Excitement Index score of 35 or better. The first was a win by Boise over New Orleans back in 2014, and the other was the first matchup between Grand Canyon and San Diego State this past season. This was also the only game to appear on this list that didn’t occur in any postseason play, so how did it rank so high?
For starters, every game I examined had at most eight lead changes. This game had 12. Each team had moments where everything was going their way and looked like they would end with the win. Grand Canyon was not a great shooting team (they finished 292nd in three-pointer made), but that was actually the better option for most of the game. They went 10-21 beyond the arc, and just 9-21 on all other shots (though they did have a ridiculous 28 free throw attempts).
San Diego State didn’t make it easy. Miles Byrd had a great defensive stat line, getting four steals and three blocks. Down 58-47 with 9 minutes left, the Aztecs crawled their way back to eventually take the lead after Tae Simmons tipped in a basket with a minute left. The rest of the game was a little chaotic.
BJ Davis missed a free throw attempt with seven seconds left that would have given San Diego State the lead, with Nana Owusu-Anane getting the rebound for Grand Canyon. He gave it to Makiah Williams, whose attempt was blocked by Byrd, seemingly ending the game. However, the refs called a foul on San Diego State (specifically Simmons), and Williams made both free throw attempts to retake the lead. Reese Dixon-Waters attempted a last-last-second shot from deep, but it went off the backboard. While it’s fair to criticize the officiating that final minute, it was still a crazy ending to a crazy game.
BONUS
Most notable win for each team not featured here:
2013 Air Force 71, UNLV 56
2014 Boise State 100, New Orleans 80
2013 Fresno State 61, UNLV 52
2023 San Jose State 81, Nevada 77 (Conference Tournament)
2013 UNLV 65 Wyoming 42
2024 Utah State 88, TCU 72 (NCAA Tournament)
2013 Wyoming 59, Nevada 48
Conclusion
This concludes my Top 10 series of looking back at the past 13 years of the Mountain West. I hope you’ve liked it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
Since I used models to create the rankings, most of the time was actually spent watching highlights to help explain the numbers (my YouTube suggestion feed is now almost exclusively sports highlights). While the numbers help, they don’t allow you to really appreciate how great some of these players, teams, and games were. Again, if there’s a game you felt should have been mentioned or ranked higher, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
