Chris Murray

RGJ

Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Chris Murray has been known to be a bit wordy, so we're giving him 1,000 words (no more than that) to share his thoughts from the week that was in the world of sports.

• THE MOUNTAIN WEST had a down basketball season last year, falling from first to 10th in the all-important Rating Percentage Index (RPI) and failing to put at least three teams in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. It was simply a bad season. And next year might be even worse. Less than one month after the basketball season ended, 21 MWC players have announced they'll transfer and four MWC players have become early entries into the draft (and I'd be surprised if any of those four were drafted). Only four of the 15 all-league selections from last season — Boise State's Anthony Drmic; Wyoming's Larry Nance Jr.; and Colorado State's J.J. Avila and Daniel Bejarano — return for the 2014-15 season. Yes, the MWC adds seven top-100 recruits, three each by UNLV and San Diego State, but the odds the MWC returns to prominence next year don't look good. If anything, the league could slip further down the RPI list. Here's a team-by-team look at the MWC's disastrous offseason so far (teams listed in order of 2013 MWC Tournament seed).

• SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs lost MWC player of the year, Xavier Thames, as well as Josh Davis, a great rebounder. The Aztecs had one minor transfer, but return a good nucleus to go with a high-level recruiting class and excellent coach. SDSU will be fine, but another Top 25 season might be pushing it. Panic meter: 3 out of 10 — Steve Fisher doesn't panic, although losing Thames is big.

• NEW MEXICO: Center Alex Kirk, a junior, put his name in the draft and New Mexico had three players transfer, including Cleveland Thomas, who could have been a starter. All-MWC players Cameron Bairstow and Kendall Williams graduated, meaning UNM returns nobody who averaged more than 8.0 ppg last year. Panic meter: 6 — The Lobos are losing a ton of talent and leadership.

• NEVADA: The Wolf Pack not only lost the MWC's only legitimate draft prospect, Deonte Burton, which was expected, it also lost its best returning player, Cole Huff, which wasn't expected and puts a huge dent in Nevada's outlook. The Wolf Pack returns one player, Mike Perez, who averaged more than 7.0 ppg last year. Panic meter: 7 — The loss of Huff can't be overstated and Burton isn't replaceable.

• UNLV: The Rebels had three major defections, including big men Roscoe Smith and Khem Birch, who both entered the draft despite being long shots to be selected. Problem child Bryce Dejean-Jones transferred to Iowa State, which is addition by subtraction. UNLV has a stellar recruiting class coming in, but who knows how the youthful pieces will fit together, plus Birch's defense and experience will be missed. Panic meter: 4 — The incoming talent is great, but prematurely losing Smith and Birch hurts.

• BOISE STATE: The Broncos kicked a pair of players off the team to add more talent and only lost one major piece in double-double machine Ryan Watkins. In the MWC's offseason of terror, Boise State has avoided major trouble, other than some bad PR for taking away a scholarship. Panic meter: 2 — Boise State returns Drmic and Derrick Marks, but the Broncos underachieved with those two last year.

• WYOMING: The Cowboys lost a pair of transfers, including the highly regarded Keonta Vernon, who was suspended last year while redshirting. But Wyoming has had a pretty clean offseason and returns three double-digit scorers, including Nance, who is recovering from a torn ACL. Panic meter: 2 — Larry Shyatt is such a good coach, the talent level almost doesn't matter. Almost.

• FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs are the lone MWC team that didn't lose a transfer. Fresno State is in good shape. The team returns three of its top four scorers and adds Texas transfer Julien Lewis while getting back ex-Kansas player Braeden Anderson, who missed last year following a car accident. Panic meter: 2 — Fresno State loses leading scorer Tyler Johnson, but has to be thrilled overall.

• UTAH STATE: Utah State had the worst offseason. The Aggies lost five players to transfer since the middle of last year, including two starters, and wave goodbye to five seniors. Stew Morrill is a good coach, but he's losing nearly 85 percent of his scoring. The top returning scorer, Jalen Moore, averaged 5.6 ppg. Panic meter: 9 — Horrible offseason for the Aggies. Only one of the top nine scorers return.

• COLORADO STATE: Three Colorado State players transferred, including once highly regarded recruit, David Cohn, but the biggest loss was Louisville transfer Chane Behanan, who entered the draft before ever playing for the Rams. Despite the loss, CSU is in a good place talent-wise. Panic meter: 4 — Behanan was a complete wild card who could have blown up in CSU's face, so it doesn't hurt that bad.

• AIR FORCE: The Falcons appeared to be in the clear until leading scorer Tre' Coggins decided Thursday he was going to transfer (this was his last semester to do so without having to serve the five-year officer commitment). Air Force returns most of its talent, but, like Huff for Nevada, losing Coggins hurts. Panic meter: 6 — Air Force showed last season it's a different team with and without Coggins.

• SAN JOSE STATE: The Spartans fell short of the APR standards, which means they not eligible for the 2014 MWC Tournament and lose four practice hours per week. SJSU lost previously committed three-star recruit Devenir Duruisseau as a result, and the APR news has to scare other prospects. Panic meter: 9 — I'm not sure panic can exist for a program that doesn't have any fans, but SJSU is in a bad spot.

• IN SHORT: The MWC had a horrible offseason, which is good and bad news. For Nevada, it's good news. The Wolf Pack's path through the conference will be easier, almost like the old WAC days. But, for the league overall, another double-digit finish in the RPI seems likely, which isn't good in the long run.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at cmurray@rgj.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayRGJ.