Aiden PettersonSat, November 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM UTC·3 min readIf you would have told me that Wyoming would begin the 2025-26 season 6-1, I would have sold you down the river.
Not because of the schedule being absurdly difficult – five of the Pokes’ seven opponents rank outside of KenPom’s top 200.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut after all the roster turnover that occurred at the end of head coach Sundance Wicks’ first year, one would expect a gelling period to be needed before wins began appearing.
Granted, with all that being said, Wicks is a different cat.
He’s a Wyoming native, hailing from Gillette, just under a four-hour drive from Laramie.
Playing Division II hoops at Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota, he briefly played professionally in Sweden for the Sodertalje Kings before transitioning to the coaching side of the sport.
Since his first gig at a graduate assistant at Northern State in 2004, Wicks has bounced all around the country as an assistant, spending time at Colorado, Northern Illinois, San Francisco, Missouri Western, and Green Bay before he found his way back to “The Equality State.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHis coaching philosophy and remarks during press conferences are raw and unfiltered, reminding me of a cross between Bill Walton and Will Ferrell’s “Jackie Moon” from the sports comedy “Semi-Pro.”
“Boys can win at home. Men win on the road.”
“Be the Buffalo.”
“He’s like Edward Norton when he’s down in the basement underneath the restaurant.”
“Metrics matter… that crap was childish.”
“I’m so competitive that if (my daughter) Grace eats her cereal too slow, I’ll finish her Cap’n Crunch for her.”
“I got 19 guys shooting free throws (after the game). We only have 15 guys on our team. I think four fans joined in just to prove that they could actually make free throws better than us.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I have zero emotions when I get in the game. I’m a raging lunatic.”
All of these are quotes directly from Wicks just this season.
It takes a certain type of person to win in Laramie in the big-boy sports of football and basketball.
In just his second year, he has nearly a whole new roster playing high-level ball before the calendar has turned to December.
The last time that Wyoming started a season 6-1 or better?
You have to travel back to 2022 when the trio of head coach Jeff Linder, guard Hunter Maldonado, and big man Graham Ike were in Laramie and bringing the “Dome of Doom” to life.
Wyoming finished that regular season 24-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and just the third time this century.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat doesn’t directly mean that these Cowboys are bound for March Madness, but with the Mountain West looking weaker than expected, there may be an unexpected opportunity for them to climb into the top-third of the conference pecking order.
Utah State stands out as a clear No. 1.
San Diego State and Boise State have had moments of good, but look shakier than past teams.
Colorado State and New Mexico are looking to improve their metrics.
Wyoming, and Fresno State, for that matter, appear poised to take advantage of a diminished cream of the crop.
For the Cowboys, they have four non-conference games left:
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt Texas Tech (Big 12 – KenPom Rank of 23rd)
Vs. Dartmouth (Ivy League – 303rd)
Vs. South Dakota (Missouri Valley – 288th)
Neutral Site against South Dakota State (Missouri Valley – 177th)
To have a successful remaining slate, the expectation for a Mountain West contender would be to finish 3-1 with a somewhat respectable showing against the Red Raiders in Lubbock.
If they can enter their first conference bout against Grand Canyon with a record of 9-2, that is a massive step in the right direction for a program that managed just 12 wins a year ago.
Even now, this is how the Mountain West, by team, has fared in KenPom:
Utah State (Started at 42nd – now at 28th)
San Diego State (Started at 29th – now at 48th)
Boise State (Started at 53rd – now at 56th)
Colorado State (Started at 79th – now at 83rd)
Grand Canyon (Started at 80th – now at 103rd)
New Mexico (Started at 98th – now at 104th)
Nevada (Started 91st – now at 113th)
Wyoming (Started at 155th – now at 117th)
UNLV (Started at 110th – now at 135th)
Fresno State (Started at 190th – now at 144th)
San Jose State (Started at 160th – now at 183rd)
Air Force (Started at 257th – now at 314th)
This is the time to jump on the Wyoming bandwagon and embrace the buffalo…
Wyoming’s next game comes this Sunday, November 30th, when they travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech.
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