While everyone has been focused on the Super Bowl all week, there are actually a few other things happening in the world of sports ....
After a few tough years, everything seems to be going right for BYU this year. The Cougars already won the Mountain West Conference in football and could very well end up as men's basketball champions.
They are the best team in the league right now, despite Air Force's 45-point win Saturday over Wyoming, which was missing three starters.
The Falcons have lost to Utah and BYU and squeaked past a few other MWC opponents and after a strong start, look to be running out of steam with their five-man, no-bench team. The MWC title is likely to be decided on Feb. 27 when the Cougars visit Colorado Springs ...
Ute fans are suffering through one of their toughest basketball seasons ever. The Utes are 8-14 and almost certainly headed for their second straight losing season for the first time in more than two decades.
A lot of folks blame the coach, of course, and it might seem simple for the Utes to cut coach Ray Giacoletti loose and try to get an upgrade after the season. But remember, Giacoletti signed a seven-year contract in 2004, getting an extra two years because of the NCAA sanctions against Rick Majerus' program. It's not that easy for a university to eat four years of a contract and try to attract a high-profile coach ...
Then again, maybe Giacoletti will try to find a comparable job and leave on his own. That's what BYU's Steve Cleveland did two years ago when he left BYU after a 9-21 season and was hired by Fresno State ...
One factor in Utah's bad season that has been overlooked is the loss of Randy Rahe, a two-year assistant who left to become head coach at Weber State last spring. Rahe was a valuable assistant to Giacoletti after serving the same role at Utah State for several years. This year he basically started from scratch at Weber State, retaining just three players from the year before, yet he has fashioned a 15-9 record and is challenging for the Big Sky title in his first year ...
How about those Jazz? Just when everyone had written them off for the next month or so after Carlos Boozer was injured, they go and beat two of the NBA's best, San Antonio and Phoenix. The Jazz will no doubt miss Boozer, who is having a terrific season, but they have enough other weapons to withstand his absence and keep their position in the Western Conference standings.
They're likely to end up in the 4th vs. 5th first-round series against the Lakers or Rockets. Then they should hope that Phoenix, which they've defeated three times already this year, ends up as No. 1, and would be a second-round opponent if they survive ...
While most TV commentators stood up for Kobe Bryant last week when he was suspended for a game for his forearm shot across Manu Ginobli's face, I sided with the NBA. It didn't look inadvertent to me. How often does a shooter naturally have his arm suddenly go sideways after a shot? I think Kobe was trying the same thing that got him a call last season against the Jazz when he initiated contact with his shooting hand against Devin Brown on a last-second shot and amazingly got the call ...
And finally, it's college football-signing week with diehard fans excited to see who the future stars of their favorite team might be. As I've said before, I never get excited about recruits until they actually show up in the fall and show what they can do. Every coach will tell you he has a great recruiting class, but we'll find out in about 2011 how good the recruiting classes really are.
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