Lindy's isn't alone in its optimism about the Cougars. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach had BYU ranked 14th after spring drills, noting, "The Cougars look like the best bet from a non-BCS conference to crash the big boys' party this coming season," and adding, "... the Cougars will easily be the class of the Mountain West Conference (and might even finish unbeaten)."

While it's clear Utah's BCS-busting '04 team and BYU's resurgence have given the MWC credibility, nothing important has changed. The conference is rated seventh-best in all four magazines. Though it remains ahead of the WAC, which has been making inroads, it is still the odd man out in the BCS picture.

Speaking of odd, has anyone heard from Utah State since the '70s?

Although Aggie coach Brent Guy is expecting a resurgence — USU won its final two games in '07 — the magazines apparently aren't convinced. USU is rated 118th (of 119 teams) by Lindy's and 117th by Athlon. The Sporting News and Steele's don't rank every team, but do pick USU to finish last in the WAC.

So the national guys have spoken. Everyone thinks Utah and BYU are the best of the MWC. And they unanimously agree USU is headed for another losing season.

It doesn't take a clairvoyant to predict that, either.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com