Cougars move up in polls

BYU moved up in both the Associated Press (17 to 16) and Coaches' (17 to 14) rankings this week.  Texas received just 5 more votes than the Cougars (674-669) in the AP for the No. 15 ranking.  Of course, if you average all the current ranking systems together - including RPI - BYU comes in at 13.6.  

New Mexico also moved up a couple spots (15 to 12 in the AP; 19 to 15 in the Coaches') after the Lobos' OT-win in Salt Lake.  UNLV fell out of both polls however after their loss to San Diego State.  The highest ranked team the Cougars have beaten is now UTEP (AP - 28; Coaches' - 29). 

Utah State (one of the Cougars' three losses) has climbed to 38th in the Coaches' poll and has now won ten consecutive WAC games.  The Aggies are 20-6 and have a 1.5 game cushion in their conference standings. Blogging the Bracket explains how this is relevant:

"...BYU moved up to the 3 line, replacing Texas, who continues to struggle (Saturday's 40-point home win over a terrible Nebraska team notwithstanding). The Cougars' profile is really similar to ... New Mexico's, but BYU gets the edge because a loss at Utah State looks a little better than one at Oral Roberts does right now."

Another team making BYU look better over the weekend was Bradley.  The Braves beat No. 19 Northern Iowa on Saturday.  As of today, all of the Cougars' losses have come against NCAA Tournament-bound teams - and the Cougars have wins against Arizona State, San Diego State, UNLV, and UTEP, all of which are at least "on the bubble."

Polls: 
AP - 16th
Coaches' - 14th
Pomeroy - 6th
Sagarin - 9th
RPI - 23rd

Bracketology:
BloggingtheBracket - 3 seed (West vs. Sam Houston State)
Lundardi (ESPN) - 4 seed (West vs. Kent State)