In his final year as an assistant men's basketball coach at Florida last season, one of the tasks assigned Larry Shyatt was to scout former Mountain West member BYU, which would meet the Gators in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game.

If Shyatt wasn't given to surprise, what he saw clearly gave him ample cause for pause.

"As I watched five, six, seven of (BYU's) games, I had a chance to find out not just about the talent of the players (in the Mountain West), but the talent of the coaches," said Shyatt, who is in the midst of his second stint as head coach at Wyoming after guiding the Cowboys in 1997-98. "When you have the national Coach of the Year (San Diego State's Steve Fisher) returning, and he has his team in the Top-25, I think that speaks volumes.

"I'm delighted to see that a lot of the opponents who have criticized this league are now waking up and finding out that this is great basketball."

And in 2011-12, perhaps greater than ever.

As the Mountain West gets set to tip-off league play on Saturday, it does so with a chance of posting its best composite non-conference record in the league's 13-year history. MW teams are currently a combined 99-26 (.792) against non-conference opponents, which ranks ahead of the previous high of .722 (96-37) the league finished with during the 2006-07 campaign (including postseason opponents). The 2008-09 season is the only other year in which MW teams surpassed the 70 percent win mark in non-conference play, going 101-40 (.716).

As of Friday, the MW is the only league in the country where every team has a winning record. Not only that, but all eight have also won 10 or more games, with four --- New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Wyoming --- having 14 or more wins. Two of those squads, No. 12-ranked UNLV and No. 22 San Diego State, will square off on Saturday in a nationally-televised meeting on the NBC Sports Network (1 p.m. PT), marking the second straight year in which the MW will tip off Conference play with a Top-25 match-up.

The Mountain West also has the sixth-best conference RPI, ranking ahead of the Pac-12, against whom MW teams have an 11-4 record this season.

But if the usual suspects have assumed their places at the head of the pack, they would do well to avoid looking over their shoulder.

Wyoming (14-2), which finished 3-13 in league play and 10-21 overall last season, is off to its best start since 1950-51 and has put together an 11-game home win streak. In addition, the Cowboys ended a 23-game road losing streak with a Dec. 9 victory at Colorado and are already halfway to matching their high for most road wins (6) since joining the Mountain West.

TCU, which won only one MW game a year ago and finished with an overall mark of 11-22, is one victory removed from equaling last year's win total. The Horned Frogs' 10 non-conference wins are their most since 2004-05. A triumph over SMU on Feb. 8 would allow TCU to match the school's 2000-01 team for most regular-season non-conference wins since prior to the 1999-2000 campaign (11).

At 10-4, Air Force, which posted a 6-10 mark in league action last season, has continued to win despite the temporary absence of standout junior guard Michael Lyons (ankle). The Falcons have been stellar defensively thus far in 2011-12, joining New Mexico and Wyoming as the only three MW teams to allow two or fewer opponents to shoot better than 45 percent.

Colorado State (11-4) tips off the conference slate having won six straight and matching its best start from a year ago. CSU's 11 non-conference wins are tied for the most during head coach Tim Miles' tenure.

"I've said many times that people across the country are beginning to realize just how good the basketball is in the Mountain West," said UNLV first-year coach Dave Rice, whose team owns the league's signature win to date with a 90-80 victory over then No. 1-ranked North Carolina on Nov. 26. "You take a look at two years ago when we had four teams in the NCAA Tournament, last year when we had three teams in the NCAA Tournament and multiple teams in the postseason.

"I think it's become a situation in our league where teams have become accustomed to winning. The coaching is so good, and even when seniors leave or players leave early for the NBA like (San Diego State's) Kawhi Leonard did last year, other guys step up because there is a culture of winning in our league."

To wit: MW preseason favorite New Mexico, which is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls, enters league play at Wyoming on Saturday having won 12 straight, its longest win streak since the Lobos ran off 15 in a row from Jan. 13 - March 11, 2010. It is the seventh time in program history and the third time under coach Steve Alford that New Mexico has won at least 12 consecutive games.

At San Diego State, where the forecast called for a significant turn of events after the team lost four starters from its NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run, the Aztecs have managed to again muscle their way into the Top-25. At 14-2, San Diego State is off to the second-best start in its Division I history. The Aztecs have won a season-high seven straight and 11 of their last 12.

But ahead looms UNLV, who is tied for the third-most wins in the country heading into Saturday's tilt against the Aztecs. After finishing the non-conference portion of the schedule with a mark of 16-2, its best start to a season since 1992-93, the Rebels have ascended to a ranking of No. 12 in the nation for the first time in 19 years (Feb. 8, 1993). UNLV has won seven straight and eight of its last nine.

"If you have any flaws, now is when you're going to be exposed," said Aztecs associate head coach Brian Dutcher. "This is a great conference, maybe the best it's ever been, with a lot of great coaches. It's going to be a long Conference race."

In a conference already recognized as one of the most challenging in the nation due to travel, altitude and home-court advantages, 2011-12 promises to be quite a ride!

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Below is a brief snapshot of each MW team heading into Saturday's Conference-opening action:

Air Force Falcons
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 10-4
Current leading scorer: Mike Fitzgerald (14.2 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Taylor Broekhuis (4.9 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: The Falcons have held on despite the absence of standout junior guard Michael Lyons, who has recently been sidelined by a high ankle sprain. Though Air Force has struggled to hold its own on the boards and ranks last in the league in scoring offense, few teams in the country are playing better defense. Only two opponents --- Colorado and Gonzaga --- have shot better than 45 percent against the Falcons.

Boise State Broncos
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 10-5
Current leading scorer: Anthony Drmic (14.4 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Ryan Watkins (4.8 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: Faced with the unenviable task of replacing seven seniors from last year's 22-win team, coach Leon Rice has gotten a sensational effort thus far from Drmic, a native of Australia who already has three 20-point games. Drmic ranks 17th nationally in scoring among freshmen (14.4), third in 3-point field goal percentage (.406) and fourth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.79).

Colorado State Rams
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 11-4
Current leading scorer: Wes Eikmeier (17.2 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Greg Smith (4.7 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: The Rams enter league play having won six straight, and their 11 non-conference wins tie for the most during head coach Tim Miles' tenure. Eikmeier, currently the league's second-leading scorer, has been the spark, but the Rams also found out just how important Pierce Hornung is to their success after the junior forward and MW Sixth Man of the Year last season was sidelined with a concussion in the early going. With Hornung in the lineup, CSU is 7-1. During his six-game absence, the Rams went 3-3.

New Mexico Lobos
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 14-2
Current leading scorer: Tony Snell (13.8 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Drew Gordon (10.9 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: The Lobos are off to their best start since opening 14-2 in 2009-10 when they finished 30-5. New Mexico is 8-1 at The Pit this season, posting an average winning margin of 24.7 points. The Lobos, who are 56-0 under coach Steve Alford when allowing fewer than 60 points, have not allowed more than 62 at home this season. UNM has a wealth of talent, currently boasting three of the top 15 scorers in the league in Snell, Gordon (12.7) and sophomore guard Kendall Williams (11.5).

San Diego State Aztecs
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 14-2
Current leading scorer: Chase Tapley (17.3 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Garrett Green (6.4 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: The No. 22-ranked Aztecs' two losses came against a pair of ranked teams in Baylor (77-67) and Creighton (85-83). San Diego State also beat two teams that were ranked at the time in Arizona (61-57) and Cal (64-63). Tapley enters MW play as the leading scorer in the league. With their 14-2 record, the Aztecs have matched the 1939-40 and 1966-67 teams for the second-best start in school history. San Diego State has won 21 consecutive games against the current configuration of the Mountain West, dating back to an 88-86 overtime loss at No. 15/23 New Mexico on Feb. 6, 2010.

TCU Horned Frogs
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 10-5
Current leading scorer: Hank Thorns (12.6 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: J.R. Cadot (7.1 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: TCU has is off to its best start since the 2000-01 season, when the team won 12 of its first 15 games. The Horned Frogs, who were the only team to beat Virginia (currently ranked No. 17) before the Cavaliers began ACC play, have won 10 non-conference games for the first time since 2004-05. A victory Feb. 6 at SMU would give the Frogs 11 non-conference victories in a season for the first time since 2000-01. TCU has forced 20 or more turnovers in a game six times this season.

UNLV Runnin' Rebels
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 16-2
Current leading scorer: Chace Stanback (14.8 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Mike Moser (11.1 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: In knocking off then No. 1-ranked North Carolina, 90-80, in November, the No. 12-ranked Runnin' Rebels not only proved they are capable of winning the MW title, but also served notice that they could be a tough out at the national level. UNLV cruised in routing Illinois on the road (64-48) and drubbing Cal (85-68) at the Thomas & Mack Center. Moser has been a monster, grabbing the early inside track to MW Player of the Year honors by averaging 14.2 points and a league-best 11.1 rebounds per contest. The Rebels' two losses came at Wichita State, a team currently receiving Top-25 votes, and at Wisconsin, which was then ranked No. 14 in the nation.

Wyoming Cowboys
2011-12 Record (heading into MW play): 14-2
Current leading scorer: Luke Martinez (13.5 ppg)
Current leading rebounder: Leonard Washington (6.2 rpg)
Non-conference synopsis: The Cowboys, who host New Mexico on Saturday, are 11-0 at Arena-Auditorium this season, their most wins at home since 2008-09. Wyoming is currently on a three-game win streak after reeling off nine straight earlier in the season. In the latest NCAA rankings, Wyoming was third in scoring defense at 52.3 points per game, 10th in field goal percentage defense (36.8) and 21st in three-point field goal percentage defense (28.5). Four Cowboys --- Martinez, Washington (11.6), Francisco Cruz (12.1) and Adam Waddell (10.0) -- are averaging in double figures.