- (Sports Network) - OUTLOOK: The 2008 Mountain West Conference All-Tournament Team was made up of three players from UNLV, the team that actually won the event, so it should come as little surprise that many think the Rebels have what it takes to claim the conference title yet again in 2008-09. It all starts at the top with a successful head coach in Lon Kruger and continues on with one of the most consistent performers in the league in Wink Adams. It won't be a walk in the park for UNLV though because BYU also boasts one of the top players in the conference in Lee Cummard. However, the difference between the two programs is that the Cougars have lost a more critical piece of their puzzle from a year ago. Utah and San Diego State both return all five starters from a year ago, which means Jim Boylen and Steve Fisher have the necessary parts to make a run at the title, but there are still questions looming on both sides regarding a key loss and unrest on the roster. The second half of the league, teams such as New Mexico, TCU and Colorado State have to contend with tough non- conference schedules in the early going which could shake their confidence, while Air Force catches a break in that area with some rather soft competition, but then has to figure out how to compensate for height disadvantages across the board, something that always seems to hold the program back from making great strides. CONFERENCE CHAMPION: UNLV

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. UNLV; 2. BYU; 3. Utah; 4. San Diego State; 5. New Mexico; 6. Wyoming; 7. Air Force; 8. TCU; 9. Colorado State

TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:

UNLV: Finishing strong last season with a 27-8 record and making it into the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Rebels have convinced enough people that they are a team to be reckoned with in the MWC this season as well. Selected as a Preseason Co-Player of the Year in the Mountain West, Wink Adams brings leadership back to the Rebels as one of three returning starters, all of whom are seniors for head coach Lon Kruger. Adams did it all for UNLV a season ago as he averaged 16.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.1 apg and 1.5 spg, using his talents wherever and whenever the squad needed him. Joe Darger (11.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Rene Rougeau (9.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) bring some active bodies to the paint for the squad which will come in handy since there are just three other players returning from last year's program. However, Tre'Von Willis was selected as the MWC Newcomer of the Year and brings a 6-4 frame to one of the guard positions after sitting out in 2007-08 because of the NCAA's transfer rules. Willis saw success first hand when he played with the Memphis Tigers as a true freshman, so he knows full well what it takes to be successful at a big-time program.

BYU: An AP All-America Honorable Mention a season ago, as well as the 2007-08 MWC Co-Player of the Year, Lee Cummard has earned enough respect from the rest of the league to be named the Preseason Co-Player of the Year this time around as well. A senior guard who stands 6-7, Cummard led the Cougars in scoring (15.8 ppg) and field goal percentage (.569) last year and was also one of the league's top three-point threats at 47.2 percent, yet the team as a whole ranked just 74th in the country from beyond the arc at 37.3 percent. BYU has lost the services of Trent Plaisted, one of the top interior performers in the MWC the last few years, but the return of junior forward Jonathan Tavernari should keep the program from falling too far off the pace. Just a freshman in 2007-08, guard Jimmy Fredette had some big moments for the Cougars and should be another strong contributor for the team again this season, especially as his playing time increases. A number of new faces and several inexperienced veterans will make it tough for these Cougars to play as big as they did on defense last season, when they held opponents to just 38.9 percent shooting from the floor, ranking them 11th in the entire country.

UTAH: Clearly, the most positive aspect of the Utes this season is that they didn't lose a single starter from a year ago when first-year head coach Jim Boylen directed his squad to an 18-15 record. However, perhaps one of the best options off the bench in the nation, former starter Johnnie Bryant is no longer around, which means Boylen will have to find a replacement for his 14.2 ppg, which placed him second on the team behind only Luke Nevill (15.2 ppg). A two-time All-MWC performer, Nevill is a preseason pick for All-MWC recognition again as his team-best 53.5 percent shooting from the field helped guide the Utes to 47.3 percent as a whole, which was good enough for first in the conference and 32nd in the nation. Just as important was the big man's touch at the free-throw line (72 percent) which was a huge part of the group's league-best 75.8 percent showing at the stripe, 12th in the country in fact. Senior forward Shaun Green (7.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.2 apg) can be called on for a multitude of endeavors, while fellow senior Lawrence Borha (7.6 ppg) and sophomore guard Tyler Kepkay (7.5 ppg) will be around to help take some of the scoring burden off Nevill.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Just like Utah, the Aztecs appear to have all five starters from a year ago back for another turn in 2007-08, yet all is not well in the world for head coach Steve Fisher as he enters his 10th season with the program. The Aztecs announced in the middle of October that senior forward Lorrenzo Wade has been suspended indefinitely due to a violation of team rules. Reports out of San Diego speculate the suspension stemmed from the fact that Wade faces felony burglary charges from an incident back in September. The status of Wade remains unclear, but what is clear is what he meant to this team a season ago with his 14.8 ppg, adding 4.5 rpg and 3.6 apg to make him one of the most accomplished players across the board in the MWC. The senior was selected to the Preseason All-MWC team so it is important that he gets his act together before he begins to detract from the squad. Regardless of where Wade stands, the Aztecs are pleased to have senior Kyle Spain (13.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Ryan Amoroso (11.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) back, especially considering SDSU was one of the weaker offensive teams in the Mountain West in 2007-08 with just 66.8 ppg (seventh in the conference and 214th in the nation). Having D.J. Gay back as the leading three-point threat (45-of-121) is critical considering the Aztecs were last in the conference and 271st in the country with only five and a half three-point buckets per outing.

NEW MEXICO: Now in the NBA, senior guard J.R. Giddens was the one that the Lobos turned to time and time again last year, which means second-year head coach Steve Alford has to find a replacement for the clutch performer. Despite finishing with a record of 11-5 in conference and 24-9 overall, the Lobos were relegated to the NIT in 2007-08, where they lost in the first round, so perhaps a change in floor leadership would do UNM some good. Maybe getting Tony Danridge back after he missed all of last season with an injury is the piece that the Lobos need to earn some respect in the MWC. Now a senior, the guard/forward combo generated 12.5 ppg in 2006-07, which would make him the top scorer on the current roster. With new, inexperienced players making up nearly half of the New Mexico roster, it will be important for seniors like Chad Toppert (10.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Daniel Faris (9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg) to supply the direction and guidance that coach Alford is looking for on the floor. New Mexico ended up as the league's top scoring team with an average of 74.1 ppg and was also first in terms of scoring margin with plus-11.4 ppg (15th nationally), but much of that was a result of lopsided wins over weak competition in the early going, something that won't help the Lobos in gaining national recognition.

WYOMING: Having one of the top players in the conference will only take a team so far. Wyoming is one of those teams because senior guard Brandon Ewing is definitely a real talent, but unless he gets the support he needs the Cowboys will again burn out early and never recover. The Pokes lost their first five conference games of 2007-08 and never recovered, managing to post back-to-back wins after the new year only three times, which meant Heath Schroyer's bunch was headed for an early exit in the annual conference tournament. Ewing, who was picked for the Preseason All-MWC team, averaged 38 minutes per game and started all 30 contests for Wyoming and even though he should have tired he still came up with team highs of 17.2 ppg and 121 assists, not to mention 3.6 rpg. However, with so much of the offense flowing through Ewing and the departed Brad Jones, there was little opportunity for players on the periphery to make significant contributions and that will hurt them this year. Joining Ewing among the returning starters are Ryan Dermody (9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Mikhail Linskens (4.2 ppg), but expect sophomore center Travis Nelson to see quality time after putting up 7.3 ppg a season ago. Clearly an area to work on is three-point shooting, a facet of the game that escaped the Cowboys as they placed last in the conference and 271st in the nation with just 31.8 percent success.

AIR FORCE: One of the premier defensive teams in the nation, the Falcons again turned the trick in 2007-08 when they limited opponents to 57.2 ppg to place fourth in the country. However, shutting down the other team didn't always give the academy positive results as head coach Jeff Reynolds found out in his first year with the team, finishing 16-14. Slowing down the pace and keeping scores to a minimum is generally a good idea for a team like Air Force which lacks size year after year, but that approach also lends itself to nights in which the team fails to produce offensively as well, as evidenced by a 36- point game versus Utah on the road to open conference play last season. The problem with the 2008-09 version of the Falcons is that they lost their top scorer in Tim Anderson (14.0 ppg), which puts even more pressure on someone like senior guard Andrew Henke who tallied 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game a year ago. Henke was a dedicated reserve for the program, coming off the bench in all 30 games, but this season he won't have that luxury if the Falcons want to finish in the top half of the standings that is. Fellow senior Anwar Johnson (7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.4 apg) could stand to improve his meager 64.6 percent free-throw accuracy and the same goes for Evan Washington's 54.8 percent shooting. As is the story year after year with this group, rebounding will continue to be an issue, the academy placing last in the MWC and 300th in the country last season with a rebounding margin of minus-4.6 per game.

TCU: An entirely new coaching staff in Fort Worth should give the Horned Frogs a bit of a better outlook this season, but in reality the program will need some time to rebuild. Having won at least 20 games in each of the last six years with Kent State, new head coach Jim Christian knows what it takes to win, but at the moment he doesn't necessarily have all the right ingredients to make that happen. What Christian does have from a team that finished just 14-16 and was 6-10 in conference last season, is two returning starters in Kevin Langford and Jason Ebie. A senior who was one of two to start every game last year, Langford (13.3 ppg) had the ball in his hands more often than not, which is why he made far more free throws (142-of-195) than any one of his teammates even had an opportunity to attempt. Langford also returns as the top rebounder for the program after clearing 5.3 boards per contest, yet his handling of the ball was not always secure because he turned it over twice as many times (80) as he had assists (40). Ebie and fellow junior guard Keion Mitchem didn't get much of a chance to show their wares at the offensive end, but that will change as their roles expand, due to the fact that there are a total of eight newcomers on the roster.

COLORADO STATE: Head coach Tim Miles had one of the more exciting players as the focal point of the Rams team a year ago in Marcus Walker, yet somehow Miles, who was in his first year with CSU, managed to guide the team to just seven wins. Even more puzzling is how the Rams failed to win a single MWC outing, going 0-16 with a player like Walker on their side. Regardless of how or why it happened, expectations in Fort Collins are minimal to say the least, which means any success will be a welcomed change. Now a senior, Walker was a Second Team All-MWC selection last year and also the league's Newcomer of the Year, so his accomplishments were not all that surprising. The guard was one of two players on the squad who scored in double digits with his team-best 17.1 ppg, yet he could have done much more damage had he refrained from letting fly from three-point range where he was just 58-of-195 (.297). Because of his insistence on trying to make too much of an impact, Walker and his teammates shot only 40.2 percent from the field overall, which was last in the Mountain West and 305th in the nation. In addition to Walker, the Rams also have Willis Gardner (9.8 ppg), Andre McFarland (8.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Josh Simmons (4.9 ppg) labeled as returning starters, but the loss of center Stuart Creason is going to hurt this group.





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