Road-Worthy...

BYU opens perhaps the most crucial two-game road swing of the Dave Rose era Saturday in Las Vegas, but Rose and his teams have been in similar situations before, with generally favorable, and sometimes remarkable results.

Past results are not guarantees of future returns, but join me on this pick-and-roll down memory lane:

2008:

At 10-1 in league, BYU hits the road for back-to-back games at San Diego State and New Mexico. A heartbreaking loss in San Diego snaps the Cougars 9-game win streak and sends BYU to New Mexico, where BYU rallies from an 8-point deficit in the final five minutes for an overtime win. BYU wins its next three games to cement an outright conference championship. Crucial two-game road swing: SPLIT.

2007:

At 11-2 in league, BYU travels for back-to-back games at San Diego State and 20th-ranked Air Force. After losing by 12 at Cox Arena, the Cougars go into Clune Arena (back when it was a tough place to play), and defeat the Cadets in a four-point thriller. BYU goes on to beat Utah in the regular season finale and lock down an outright conference championship. Crucial two-game road swing: SPLIT.

2006:

At 3-3 in league, BYU stages a miracle comeback to beat TCU at home. With a 4-3 record, BYU faces back-to-back road games at Colorado State and New Mexico. First, BYU guts out a two-point win at Moby Arena, where the Cougars had lost seven of its previous nine games. Then, BYU comes away with a 77-71 win at the Pit, snapping New Mexico's 21-game homecourt win streak. BYU would go on to win seven of its next eight and finish tied for second in the MWC at 12-4, a year after finishing in last place at 3-11. Crucial two-game road swing: SWEEP.

Now, follow me into the "wayback machine" for this one...

1998:

In Dave Rose's first season on Steve Cleveland's staff at BYU, the Cougars are 2-12 in the WAC, needing a sweep of their final two road games of the season just to qualify for the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

First up, the New Mexico Lobos, with UNM on a 41-game home win streak at the Pit. The underdog Cougars win the game by a stunning 21-point margin. Then, BYU plays at UTEP, and goes to triple overtime before pulling out a 76-75 win. Crucial two-game road swing: SWEEP.

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I include the 1998 regular season finale in part because a team that finished the season 9-21 found a way to win two road games it simply had to have. No one gave BYU a shot to win even one of the games, let alone sweep.

Now, fast forward to 2009. A 20-5, NCAA Tournament-caliber BYU team with back-to-back outright conference titles is hitting the road for two big road games. Dave Rose and his staff have been down this road before, and so have many of his players. If you don't think BYU has a chance to split or sweep at UNLV and SDSU, you haven't been paying attention to what Rose has been doing for years--and that is, consistently coaching his guys to "must-win" wins away from home.

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League-leading Utah caught a major break, then dodged a huge bullet last night in Fort Collins. The break came when CSU's starting guard Jesse Carr missed the game with a groin strain. I would like to have seen what the Rams could have done with Carr on the floor, since he is CSU's version of Tyler Kepkay, who led Utah to the overtime win with 27 points.

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Utah, BYU and New Mexico are the only conference title contenders to avoid any "slip-ups" this season. A "slip-up" is defined as any loss to TCU, Wyoming, CSU or Air Force. Utah is now 7-0 against the "bottom four," BYU is 6-0, and the Lobos are 5-0.

After last night's 77-68 loss at Wyoming, UNLV is now 4-3 against the league's lower echelon, while SDSU is 5-1 (with a loss at Wyoming). The Aztecs mitigated that one setback with a win at UNLV, but UNLV is out of the conference title chase after yet another letdown on the road (where the Rebels are now 2-4 in league play).

Somehow, sub-.500 teams TCU, CSU and Wyoming managed to beat UNLV at home, when the Cougars could not. More than the overtime loss at Utah, BYU's home loss to UNLV remains the most galling defeat of the season (I still can't believe the second half of that game actually happened--it's like a bad dream).

It's all but imperative that BYU avenge that home loss this Saturday in Las Vegas, and the good news is, BYU is well-equipped to do just that. UNLV is clearly not a great team, and any team that can lose to the Frogs, Rams and Cowboys can be had, even at the Thomas and Mack.

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I believe UNLV's loss last night demonstrates yet again how a lack or urgency affects UNLV in the regular season. Lon Kruger's club has never won a regular season conference championship, but why bother? As long as the league tourney is on UNLV's home floor, the Rebels have less motivation to "sell out" when the going gets tough in places like Fort Worth, Fort Collins or Laramie. They always know that three wins in three days in their own arena in mid-March will cover a multitude of regular season sins.

By the way, it appears that the Rebels are now all but locked into the 4 v. 5 quarterfinal at the conference tournament, so it's a fierce battle at the top to avoid the Rebels in the first round.

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