"And Down the Stretch They Come..."

In the wake of BYU's win in the Cougars' 1st place showdown with UNLV... a few thoughts...

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1) while it occupies 2nd place in the MWC standings, UNLV has competition for the title of "second-best team in the league." Right now, both Utah and New Mexico are putting heat on the Rebels, with the Utes perhaps gaining an edge by virtue of the fact they have a viable post-scoring option to go along with their outside game. The Lobos are on a roll, too, but without a back-to-the-basket presence. J.R Giddens is finally playing to his potential, but when he's off his game, UNM is left without many options. Utah is more diverse, less reliant on a single player, and better defensively.

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2) BYU's loss at Wake Forest is looking much more palatable today, following #2 Duke's loss in Winston-Salem last night. BYU's RPI is a league-leading 29, and all five of BYU's losses are to top 100 teams. Indeed, the five teams to beat BYU are looking like NCAA Tournament teams or "bubble teams" right now, with North Carolina and Michigan State "locks" to dance, while Wake is in the upper half of the ACC, Boise State leads the WAC, and UNLV can earn its way in with three home wins in mid-March. In short, BYU has no real "black marks" on its postseason resume.

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3) ESPN.com's "Bubble Watch" Sunday has BYU as one of the "Work Left To Do" teams, but leading the pack among those teams from the non-BCS/non A10 conferences. Writer Andy Glockner said the following:

"The Cougars took a huge step toward an at-large (if needed) by pounding UNLV in a revenge beating. The 26-point win makes up for the 29-point loss in Vegas. Now with eight straight W's in the MWC, the Cougars have a strong hold on the league race. They sit two losses up on the Rebels with six games to play for BYU. The Cougars beat Louisville and lost to North Carolina and Michigan State in competitive efforts in nonleague play. The loss at Wake Forest wasn't a great effort."

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4) We're a little past the midseason mark, but if I had to pick my conference award winners solely based on play to this point in the league camapign, it would go like this:

Player of the Year: Lee Cummard, BYU (runner-up: J.R. Giddens, UNM)

Coach of the Year: Dave Rose, BYU (runner-up: Steve Alford, UNM)

Freshman of the Year: Billy White, SDSU (runners-up: Dairese Gary, UNM and Jimmer Fredette, BYU. This category is very fluid, with Gary and Fredette closing the gap on White)

Newcomer of the Year: Marcus Walker, CSU (runner-up: Ryan Amoroso, SDSU)

Defensive Player of the Year: Rene Rougeau, UNLV (runner-up: Lee Cummard, BYU)

All-Conference 1st Team:

Lee Cummard, BYU

Trent Plaisted, BYU

Wink Adams, UNLV

J.R. Giddens, UNM

Johnnnie Bryant, Utah

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All-Conference 2nd Team:

Brandon Ewing, Wyoming

Lorrenzo Wade, SDSU

Marcus Walker, CSU

Tim Anderson, Air Force

Curtis Terry, UNLV

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All-Conference 3rd Team:

Jonathan Tavernari, BYU

Luke Nevill, Utah

Brad Jones, WYO

Kevin Langford, TCU

Ryan Amoroso, SDSU

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