Y. dominates MWC, vows to get better

When BYU clinched the No. 2 seed in the MWC baseball tournament this past week with a second-place regular-season finish, it solidified the school's dominating finish to all sports in league competition.

I know, here it comes.

BYU finished either first or second in every MWC sport this past year. Not many, if any, universities could make that same claim this or any year.

What exactly does it mean? Does the fact that one school can dominate speak more to BYU's prowess or to the weaknesses of the MWC?

Athletic director Tom Holmoe, just under three years on the job, said he isn't qualified to judge what it means in the overall MWC picture. "I've only been looking at the conference close for a couple of years.

"I think the league is very competitive. You have only to look at Utah's women's volleyball team to see how good they were and how far they went in the NCAAs. It is a good league."

The bigger picture, said Holmoe, is how far can MWC teams, including the Cougars, go in NCAA championships when they get the chance. "For us, that's what we're talking about right now. When you get in the NCAA basketball tournament, the NCAA baseball, volleyball or soccer tournaments, you need to go deep."

Holmoe said the Pac-10 and Big 12 get teams into postseason and they usually make ripples. "That's what this league needs to do more often."

On Saturday, the Cougar men's golf team narrowly missed advancing in the NCAA Regional in Arizona, while women's softball ended its season, losing to Arizona State on its own field. Case in point.

BYU sports will likely finish in the Top 25 in the Director's Cup, a ranking of NCAA schools in 2006-07. "But our goal is to be in the Top 20 and if you get in the Top 10 in a sport, you should challenge for a national championship," said Holmoe.

BYU's dominance in the MWC this year may be due to many factors, one of which is the unique timing of title runs in football and basketball. In any other year, with a traditionally strong Utah in basketball, it would be tougher to sweep the two major sports championships.

This past school year, the Cougars won 13 of 19 league championships. This included titles in football, men's and women's basketball and cross country, indoor and outdoor track, men's golf and women's softball. In the remaining competition (women's soccer; volleyball; men and women's swimming and diving; women's golf and baseball), the Cougars finished second in the regular season or league tournament.