The Utes and Cougars should continue to dominate the Mountain West Conference in the quality of recruits when national letters of intent are signed in February.
As both schools prepare for bowl games and finish putting the touches on the recruiting classes of 2009, the Cougars and Utes each have received some quality pledges from high school players and transfers.
If those commitments hold out, certainly these two schools from the Beehive State will continue to be a force to be reckoned in the Mountain West, especially while staffs at San Diego State, New Mexico and Wyoming are undergoing coaching changes at a very critical time.
Evaluating recruiting before the bodies are on campus is a tricky business, but there are folks out there who make a living off ranking recruits based on performances, evaluation, athletic talent, who else is recruiting players, academics and measurable data tested during camps and combines from spring and summer.
I asked Chris Fetters, one of the most knowledgeable recruiting gurus in the West, to break down the 32 recruits who have pledged to sign with Utah and BYU and rank them according to whatever system he liked to apply. Or just by his gut instinct.
Of note, it is interesting that both Kyle Whittingham and Bronco Mendenhall have the same exact number (16) of commitments to this point in the season for 2009.
Again, this is not scientific, but Fetters is an independent voice and recruiting expert for Scout.com who is associated with the University of Washington recruiting site Dawgman.com. He is the recruiting editor for Sports Washington and holds the title of Scout.com's Northwest Recruiting Analyst.
Here is how Fetters filters out a power ranking of the Ute-Cougar commitments so far, with name, position, height, weight and school:
1. Adam Timo, RB, 6-1, 175, Snow Canyon, St. George (BYU); 2. Craig Bills, S, 6-2, 202, Timpview, Provo (BYU); 3. Vyncent Jones, OL, 6-4, 285, Jordan (Utah); 4. Richard Wilson, TE, 6-3, 222, Spanish Fork (BYU); 5. James Aiono, TE, 6-3, 275, Snow College (Utah); 6. Jray Galeai, S, 6-0, 170, Kahuku, Hawaii, (BYU); 7. Kapua Sai, OL, St. Louis School, Honolulu (Utah); 8. Brett Thompson, WR, Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills, Calif. (BYU); 9. Riley Nelson, QB, 6-1, 195, Logan (USU transfer), (BYU); 10. Chris Washington, S, 6-2, 195, Northridge, Layton (Utah).
11. Maxwell Lacy, WR, 6-3, 195, Verbum Dei (Compton J.C.), (Utah); 12. Jordan Wynn, QB, 6-1, 175, Oceanside, Oceanside, Calif. (Utah); 13. Terry Alletto, OL, 6-3, 260, Ponderosa, Parker, Colo. (BYU); 14. Chris Brown, RB, 6-0, 185, Newbury Park, Newbury Park, Calif. (Utah); 15. Mitch Matthews, WR, 6-5, 195, Southridge, Beaverton, Ore. (BYU); 16. Rimington Peck, TE, 6-5, 215, Bingham High (BYU); 17. Brad Wilcox, OL, 6-7, 240, North, Edmond, Okla. (BYU); 18. Fono Vakalahi, OL, 6-4, 320, Bryan, Bryan, Texas (BYU); 19. Travis Cobb, WR, 6-0, 180, Blinn J.C. (Utah); 20. Tui Crichton, OL, 6-4, 280, Timpview (BYU).
21. Trevor Bateman, CB, 5-11, 180, Palm Desert, Indio, Calif. (BYU); 22. Jerrad Stewart, S, 5-10, 180, Perland, Perland, Texas (Utah); 23. Victor Spikes, S, 6-1, 195, Marshall, Missouri City, Texas (Utah); 24. Jamal Smith, WR, 6-2, 180, Oxnard, Oxnard, Calif. (Utah); 25. Siosaia Tuipolutu, DT, 6-2, 285, Euless Trinity, Euless, Texas (Utah); 26. Peni Makaf'afi, RB, 5-10, 215, Northridge, Layton (BYU); 27. Ryan Mulitalo, OG, 6-3, 285, Hunter, West Valley (BYU); 28. Beau Burton, RB, 5-9, 205, Saguaro High, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Utah); 29. CJ Porter, WR, 5-11, 180, Concord, Concord, Calif. (Utah); 30. Anthony Heimuli, RB, 5-11, 225, Mountain View, Orem (BYU).
31. Colby Goodwin, TE, 6-6, 215, Cy-Fair, Cypress, Texas (Utah); 32. Eric Dago, DE, 6-3, 195, Westside, Houston, Texas (Utah).
Fetters rates Ute-bound lineman Jones from Jordan the best offensive lineman in the state in the class of 2009 behind Cottonwood's 6-3, 270-pound John Martinez and Timpview's 6-5, 285-pound Xavier Sua'Filo, who are still uncommitted and taking looks out of state.
Alletto, who committed to BYU a year ago as a junior, believes Fetters, "Is also underrated nationally because he committed so early."
There, fans can be thankful this crop looks pretty good for future rivalry showdowns.
Happy Turkey Day.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com