Dec. 15, 1999

After a shaky start, the Mountain West Conference is finally starting to find its stride.

Things were looking bleak for the brand-new league one bad night two weeks ago when Utah lost to Weber State of the Big Sky, New Mexico was beaten by UTEP of the WAC, and BYU and Colorado State lost to Pac-10 teams, Arizona and Arizona State, respectively. Every loss was double digits and the average score was 82-65.

Since then, things have improved as Colorado State, BYU and Utah have each beaten Pac-10 opponents, Wyoming has reeled off five straight wins and UNLV has jumped out to a 5-1 mark. Only Utah is ranked, checking in at No. 25 in the latest coaches poll.

Here's a look at the Mountain West teams, in order of records to date, after the first three weeks of preseason with another three to go before the start of league play on Jan. 10.

BYU (6-1) — Who would ever have believed that the Cougars would have the best record in the Mountain West? The Cougs are definitely the surprise team of the league so far this season. Mekeli Wesley, who leads the league with a 21.4 average and Silester Rivers are holding down a thin frontcourt, while JC transfer Terrell Lyday (14.6 ppg) has blended in well at the guardline with returned missionary Matt Montague and Michael Vranes. With their best start in a decade, the Cougars could challenge for the Mountain West title and do much better than their predicted sixth-place finish.

UNLV (5-1) — The Rebels have two of the league's top returning players in center Kaspars Kambala (17.8 ppg) and point guard Mark Dickel (13.5 ppg, 9.7 assists). The big challenge for coach Billy Bayno has been mixing in six newcomers, including five JC transfers. The top newcomers are guard Trevor Diggs, who leads the team with an 18.7 average and UVCC transfer Danny Brotherson, who is averaging nearly 10 points and 6 rebounds per game. The Rebels have beaten Georgetown, and their only loss was to North Carolina.

WYOMING (6-2) — The Cowboys lost a couple of early games in a Hawaiian tournament and then lost their best player, center Ugo Udezue, who underwent knee surgery after the fifth game. He's not expected back until February and may take a medical redshirt if he's not ready. With Udezue out, the Cowboys moved Josh Davis from power forward into the post, and he responded immediately with three straight double-doubles, averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Anthony Blakes is the leading scorer at 14.5 points per game. The Cowboys have so much depth in the backcourt this year that Andy Young, a starter from two years ago, never gets off the bench.

UTAH (5-2) — Injuries have frustrated Ute fans and coach Rick Majerus, but the Utes appear to be rounding into shape with easy wins over Utah State and Washington State last week. They've missed Hanno Mottola, but his absence has allowed other players to step up. Alex Jensen leads the MWC in 3-point shooting (58 percent) and is third in overall shooting at 60.7 percent and 4th in rebounding (8.9 rpg). Jeremy Killion has been a pleasant surprise averaging 13.1 points on 48 percent 3-point shooting, and sophomore Gary Colbert is already 3rd in the league in assists with 4.8 per game.

NEW MEXICO (5-4) — Big things were expected in Albuquerque after Fran Fraschilla replaced longtime coach Dave Bliss, who hightailed out of town for Baylor. However, the Lobos have struggled so far under Fraschilla with four early losses, including a couple at The Pit (they didn't suffer their fourth loss until Jan. 23 last year). Saturday night they barely got by a mediocre Southern Utah team by five points. Lamont Long, a preseason favorite for MWC player of the year honors, has played well so far, averaging 20 points and 6 rebounds per game.

COLORADO STATE (3-3) — The Rams lost their two best players from a team that made it to the third round of the NIT but are starting to play well after a slow start. Ceedric Goodwyn is leading the team in scoring as expected at 20 points per game and is getting help from John Sivesind and JC transfer Aki Palmer, who took over point guard duties and didn't commit a turnover in his first 56 minutes of action. The Rams are also looking forward to the addition of Oregon State transfer Ron Grady who becomes eligible this week.

AIR FORCE (3-5) — The Falcons' only two wins came against non-Division I opponents, but two of their losses last week were by just one point to Long Beach State and Portland State. In Tyron Wright and Jarvis Croff, who average 17.7 and 19.1, respectively, the Falcons have two of the better backcourt players in the league, but as usual, the Falcons have little help inside. Tom Bellairs, the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-6, leads the team in rebounding with seven per game.

SAN DIEGO STATE (1-3) — The way things are going so far, ex-Michigan coach Steve Fisher may be wondering why the heck he ever wanted to get back into coaching. The Aztecs lost to cross-town rival U. of San Diego by 28 points and Sunday lost to Oklahoma State by 34. They've shot horribly from 3-point range so far, making just 11 of 55. Marcelo Correa, a 6-10 junior, has been one bright spot, scoring 15.8 per game and leading the MWC in rebounding at 9.2.