What did we learn about the MWC in '09 season?

How tough is this league?

The top of the Mountain West, led by TCU's undefeated and No. 4 ranking heading into the postseason, has never been as rugged as the past two seasons. Now, if the bottom dwellers will only get themselves off the mat.

With BYU and Utah ranked with the Frogs in this week's top-25 polls, plus Utah's BCS win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, I think the league is entering a new era of respect. It's taken a decade, but the MWC has elevated itself above the other non-automatic qualifying conferences, even with some cellar material.

If you survey the college football scene, it's easy to make a case the league has three of the best coaches in college football in Gary Patterson, Kyle Whittingham and Bronco Mendenhall.

With parity hitting the Pac-10, irrelevance of Notre Dame, mutiny in Ann Arbor, brain hiccups at LSU, the Big 12 failing to produce an at-large BCS team, aging legends holding on at Penn State and Florida State and cliff-hanger gymnastics in Boulder, the MWC has very impressive products in the 12-0 Frogs, 10-2 Cougars and 9-3 Utes.

With the Cougars ranked No. 14 in the BCS standings this week, it is clear the Cougar loss to Florida State on their own field was the league's most disappointing setback.

Why? Because the Cougars' record (10-2) is equal to or better than No. 7 Oregon (9-2), No. 8 Ohio State (10-2), No. 9 Iowa (10-2), No. 10 Georgia Tech (10-2) and No. 11 Penn State (10-2).

If the Cougars, ranked in the top 10 before that FSU loss, had won, an 11-1 BYU could be in the top 12 and eligible for an at-large BCS berth. BYU would not be given that berth, but they'd be eligible.

And Utah? The Utes have an equal record of No. 12 Virginia Tech and No. 13 LSU. Had they not lost to the Cougars and had held on to defeat Oregon, they'd have made the top dozen.

Second- and third-biggest MWC downers? That UNLV couldn't get one more win and go bowling, and that SDSU lost its final four games.

How did it look back in August and how accurate were the pundits, including me? Well, let's take a look and hold folks accountable.

Reporters that cover the MWC pretty much nailed the top-half of the league finish with TCU, BYU, Utah then AFA. Their biggest mistake was picking Wyoming to finish last, in ninth place when it was CSU, picked No. 6 that went 0-8.