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It may be January, but March Madness will be here before you know it.
Conference play is in full swing around the state of Utah. So, what better time is there to take a look at how the postseason resumes of BYU, Utah, Utah State, UVU, Weber State and SUU are coming along.
As of yet, nobody has a good enough body of work to justify an at-large bid, and a few teams already are in a position where they need to win their conference tournaments or they will be spending their March on the couch. However, that could change as Utah has two huge games this week.
Here's the first bracket list of 2017.
SUU Thunderbirds
Record: 4-12 (2-1 Big Sky)
RPI: 329
SUU needs to somehow win the Big Sky Tournament or the T-birds will be staying home in March. It really is that simple.
Weber State Wildcats
Record: 7-6 (2-0 Big Sky)
RPI: 193
Honestly, Weber State's RPI doesn't even matter. The Big Sky doesn't typically get two bids to the NCAA Tournament, and seeing that the top team currently in the RPI is No. 142 Eastern Washington, it's pretty much certain that the conference will get one bid.
So, all that matters is winning the conference, and the Wildcats are 2-0. Weber State is the only unbeaten team in league play.
Weber State has a huge game this week against Eastern Washington Saturday. Again, it's all about getting that No. 1 seed at the Big Sky Tournament and winning the championship.
UVU Wolverines
Record: 8-8 (0-1 WAC)
RPI: 191
UVU may have a good win at BYU on its resume, but that's about it. The Wolverines' next-best win is over No. 203 Denver. The only chance UVU has at making it to the NCAA Tournament at this point is to win the WAC Tournament.
Utah State Aggies
Record: 7-7 (2-2 MWC)
RPI: 176
In most years, wins over New Mexico and UNLV would be great things to have on a NCAA resume. This year, neither the Lobos nor the Rebels are even in the RPI top 100. In fact, the Mountain West only has two teams in the top 100: Nevada (No. 43) and Boise State (No. 59).
My, how the mighty Mountain West has fallen.
Utah State's biggest resume problem is that it doesn't have a single win over a top 100 team. Frankly, the Mountain West may be a one-bid league this year. The Bracket Matrix has only Nevada in the field from the conference.
This week, the Aggies face Wyoming and San Diego State both on the road. While beating both teams will undoubtedly raise USU's RPI, it will probably have to win the conference championship game, which is still somehow on UNLV's home floor, to make it to the Big Dance.
Utah Utes
Record: 11-4 (2-1 Pac-12)
RPI: 109
The Utes have played three top-15 RPI teams so far this year: Butler, Xavier and Arizona. Utah will play several other big-time teams in conference play before the season is over, but Utah needs to start winning some of these games before it gets any NCAA love.
Wins over Colorado and Arizona State are nice, but they're not going to get the job done. Plus, a stunning loss to San Francisco in the Diamond Head Classic really didn't help.
The good news is that Utah doesn't have any bad losses that will hold it back come March. So, all it needs is a couple of signature wins to put it in the field of 68, and it will get two chances this week against USC and UCLA at home.
BYU Cougars
Record: 12-5 (3-1 WCC)
RPI: 96
BYU's best win is over No. 71 Colorado, and it has a bad loss against UVU. While the Cougars are the highest ranked in the RPI in the state, No. 96 is definitely not good enough to get an NCAA bid.
The problem is the Cougars are in a part of the schedule where they could win all of their games and fall in the RPI. The only games left that can potentially put BYU in the field are against Gonzaga and the rematch against Saint Mary's, and those games aren't until February.
Speaking of Saint Mary's, the Gaels dominated the Cougars from start to finish last week. BYU needs at least one win over Saint Mary's or Gonzaga, and clearly, they have some work to do.
Next up for BYU is San Francisco, and it is the most dangerous team outside of the Zags and the Gaels. The Dons took out Indiana State and Utah. A loss would be bad but not necessarily fatal to BYU's at-large hopes. A loss to San Diego, however, just might mean that the WCC Tournament would be BYU's only hope of attending the big dance.
Lafe Peavler is a sports strategist for the Deseret News and KSL.com. Follow him on Twitter @LafePeavler.