The WAC is hovering around 15th in RPI. This is Big Sky/Big West territory. And you know what? The WAC deserves to be that low. Last year, the WAC was full of young talent. Bad teams (Fresno and La Tech) had some incredible players that returned (Seay/George and Rolle). La Tech has taken advantage of the extra year, but every other team has either failed to move up or even fallen down (looking your way, USU and UNR). The two usual powers are weak and the WAC could be won by basically any team this year.

Here are my WAC rankings. More articles to come when the Christmas stress is over.

1. Louisiana Tech- I could not ignore them, despite no quality wins, simply because they haven't lost to teams that are worse than them yet. Every other team in the WAC has managed to lose games that should have been wins.

2. Idaho- Still hasn’t impressed me that much. A good win over Portland is turning into an average win as the Pilots tailspin out of control since breaking into the polls for the first time since the year 1325.

3. Nevada- They DID play UNC close, and aside from a 3 game losing streak, they have managed to play mostly decent. Barely beating Eastern Washington doesn't help your case for number one though.

4. Utah State- Probably the second biggest disappointment in the WAC, behind NMSU. A loss at LBSU is not bad (they are picked to win the Big West and have some incredible athletes), but the amount of effort, mixed with a trend to losing on the road AGAIN, does not loom well for the Aggies. I think the home loss to SMC might have broken their spirits a little. Also, Bendall has elected to have surgery next week. Let's see how that affects him.

5. Fresno State- Finally put it together against BYU, but took a little too long and ran out of time before the game ended. This team can win the WAC tournament, even though they are not the best team in the conference. Won 4 of their last 5.

6. New Mexico State- I want to put SJSU here, but I feel foolish. NMSU gave UTEP a loss when UTEP seemed poised to make a top 25 case. Losing by 30+ to a bad bad, really bad UCLA team doesn't help convince me that NMSU belongs above the bottom two, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt. NMSU will not finish top three in the WAC this season.

7. San Jose State- They beat Pacific. Fresno and Nevada could not. However, the rest of their wins are a combined 6-17 against D1 teams.

8. Boise State- They have a decent record (and a winning record!), but they have played absolutely nobody. The 6 teams that they have played and came away with a W have a combined 12 wins. And 47 losses. Yes, really.

9. Hawaii- Hawaii's record also is not bad, but when your signature win is over Southern Utah or Lamar, you belong at number 9. They did play well against New Mexico, but they will have a hard time competing in even half of their WAC games.

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