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Here are the updated Top 25 polls, and news on more conference kudos for a certain Cougar...
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BYU is up three spots in both polls, while January foe UTEP is now ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll; 26th in the AP. New Mexico also gets a bump (up two spots in the AP; three spots in ESPN/USAT), yet remains behind BYU in the coaches' survey.
UNLV is no long receiving AP votes, but is named on the coaches' ballots. Utah State receives votes in both polls.
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Meantime, BYU's leading scorer gets more conference kudos today:
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"COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU junior Jimmer Fredette has been named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for games through February 21. This is the fifth weekly accolade of the season for Fredette and the seventh of his career overall.
A 6-2 guard from Glens Falls, N.Y., Fredette led the Cougars to a 2-0 record last week with wins over Colorado State and Wyoming. In the 92-70 victory over the Rams, Fredette led all players with 36 points and five rebounds in 36 minutes of action. He shot 12-of-22 (.545) from the field, including 6-of-10 (.600) from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 (.857) from the free throw line, while adding six assists and one steal.
Fredette followed that performance by tying for team-high honors with 22 points in the 85-63 win over the Cowboys. He shot 7-of-14 (.500) from the field, including 3-of-6 (.500) from beyond the arc, and 5-of-5 (1.000) from the charity stripe, while adding four assists and a rebound in 36 minutes of play.
For the week, Fredette averaged 29.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds, while going 19-of-36 (.528) from the field, 9-of-16 (.563) from 3-point land and 11-of-12 (.917) from the free throw line."
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According to my research, Fredette has tied the MWC record for most weekly awards in a single season with five:
Jimmer Fredette, BYU: 5 (2009-10)
Luke Nevill, Utah: 5 (2008-09)
J.R. Giddens, New Mexico: 5 (2007-08)
Andrew Bogut, Utah: 5 (2004-05)
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Brandon Heath of SDSU received the most total weekly awards, with eight, from 2004-05 through 2006-07; Fredette is one weekly POW award away from tying that mark.
Interestingly, three-time all-league performer (two-time 1st Team selection) and former MWC Player of the Year Lee Cummard received only three weekly citations during his career.
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I wrote yesterday that Wednesday's game with San Diego State is "as big" as Saturday's possible winner-take-all game with New Mexico--in large part because of the momentum that would set up Saturday's Top 15 showdown, but in some small part because a win over SDSU would give BYU a crucial tiebreak with New Mexico, should BYU beat UNM yet somehow end up tied with the Lobos at the end of the season. Such a tiebreak advantage would give BYU the #1 seed at the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
Of course, should BYU beat both SDSU and New Mexico, there would be no reason to anticipate a loss at Utah or TCU (or a UNM home loss to TCU), but it would be a nice potential tiebreak to have in the back pocket.
Under Dave Rose, BYU is 2-2 at Utah and 4-0 at TCU.
Note: were BYU to lose to SDSU but beat New Mexico, then win out and end up tied with the Lobos for the MWC regular season title, the tiebreak would be the most recent NCAA RPI available on March 6th, since both BYU and UNM would have swept and/or split with every common opponent. New Mexico currently holds a notable RPI edge over BYU (UNM: 10, BYU: 22).
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BYU remains a 4 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology projection. New Mexico remains a 3, while UNLV drops to a 9 but is still in the field.
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From "Places to be This Week" in Andy Katz' Weekly Watch on ESPN.com:
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"Provo, Utah, Wednesday: San Diego State is mounting a campaign for a bid and a win at BYU would certainly turn heads."
"Provo, Utah, Saturday: The Mountain West title could be decided as New Mexico goes to BYU."
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