MWC trio moving up rankings

With two games remaining in this week's home stretch of Mountain West Conference women's basketball action, trying to project the league's regular-season champion and the top seed at next week's MWC Tournament is about as certain as a coin flip.

Which is exactly what may determine the tourney's top seed.

Meanwhile, BYU (22-3 overall, 12-2 MWC), Utah (20-5, 11-3) and New Mexico (20-7, 10-4) continued their late-season push for the title and for postseason posturing, with the trio continuing to be the Mountain West's representatives in the national polls.

In the Associated Press Top 25 rankings released Monday afternoon, Utah remained the higher ranked of the three at No. 17, while BYU made the largest jump of any team in the AP Top 25 by moving up three spots to No. 18. At No. 23, New Mexico joined Utah in stepping up two spots.

Wyoming is receiving votes, just three spots out of the AP Top 25.

BYU holds a one-game cushion over Utah and two over New Mexico in final-week MWC standings. However, with difficult slates of games set for Thursday night and Saturday for all three, a myriad of possibilities exist in how the final standings and the seeding for the conference tournament.

Here's a few certainties:

• If BYU sweeps its final two games — at Colorado State and at New Mexico — the Cougars earn sole possession of the regular-season crown and the tournament's No. 1 seed.

• A combination of one BYU and one Utah loss — the Utes wrap up by hosting TCU and then traveling to Wyoming — gives the Cougars the championship and top tourney berth.

• The Cougars can claim at least a share of the regular-season title and a shot at the top seed by winning one of its final two games.

Beyond that, the possibilities of finishes and tiebreaking-procedures in the Mountain West make one's head swim.

For example, BYU, Utah and New Mexico could tie for first — if BYU loses both games, the Utes split and New Mexico wins at UNLV and then beats BYU at home.

To break ties and determine tournament seeding, the Mountain West looks at head-to-head competition, then how each of the tied teams fared against others in order in the standings until the tie is broken.