Three coaches, and with that unbreakable brotherhood comes as many thoughts on the potential cringe factor of BYU's game Saturday at Wyoming.

Cleveland, who hired Heath Schroyer and Dave Rose in 1997 to fill out his first coaching staff at BYU, is excited that Schroyer -- in his first year as the head coach of Wyoming -- will face the man who replaced Cleveland as the Cougar boss 2 • seasons ago.

One's for it (Cleveland), one's against it (Schroyer) and the third (Rose) is a little more on the fence.

Schroyer, who still keeps in constant contact with the other two, says not much enjoyment will come from the occasion that will take place at least twice each season as long as the coaches stay connected by the Mountain West Conference. They could also meet in the league postseason tournament, when the stakes could be even more dramatic.

"You never want to play your friends," Schroyer said.

There is a wide spectrum of thought about the topic nationally. Some coaches will help out friends as a favor, or because they truly enjoy meeting each other. Cleveland said he always likes playing coaches he knows and respects. "I think it's a good thing for Heath and Dave," he said.

Other coaches will stay away from the meetings with pals at all costs, unless they're forced to play.

Rose is the most neutral on the idea.

"Playing each other will be difficult just because of the fact we're good friends," Rose said. "But once that ball's thrown up, it will be similar to every other game."

The one bummer between friends is that someone will leave disappointed, particularly after each has been on a roll lately.

The Cougars (16-5, 5-1 MWC) have recovered nicely after a Jan. 15 blowout loss at UNLV to win their last four games. Two of those were on the road, including Wednesday's second consecutive victory at Air Force's Clune Arena. BYU is tied with UNLV for first place in the conference, and another road win would be a nice note for BYU's NCAA tournament-hopeful resume.

Schroyer called Rose after that 29-point loss in Las Vegas, and said the BYU coach was the first to call and text him Jan. 19 after the Cowboys were pounded by 27 points at San Diego State.

The Fresno State head coach Cleveland, like many others, describes Rose and Schroyer in basically the same terms: Fiercely loyal, focused, hard working and passionate about their careers.

The Cowboys (8-11, 2-5) lost their first five MWC games but have rebounded with wins against Colorado State and Wednesday at Utah.

"It was obviously a big win," Schroyer said of snapping a five-game losing streak to the Utes. "We've been through a lot of adversity."

A win against the upstart Cougars would go a long way for Schroyer toward pitching his program to recruits and fans.

The three friends, regardless of results, will surely get together for dinner in San Antonio during Final Four weekend. They could share stories from the season, or not talk basketball at all. Their topics of conversation, they say, are more diverse than people might think.

As for facing Rose, Schroyer knows what he's up against.

"Dave's kind of put the benchmark on this league the last couple of years," Schroyer said of the team that also won the MWC regular-season title last year.

• Fabulous in February: January gets adoration because it's the beginning of conference play around the country. March is, well, (copyrighted) madness. But what gets lost sometimes is the 28 -- or in this Leap Year's case, 29 -- days between those months.

It shouldn't be forgotten what February has meant to the Cougars the past two years. They're 12-2, going 6-1 in each of Rose's first two seasons. Success at this point has set them up for a couple of postseason runs.

The Cougars have gotten Rose's message: Every game is important, and don't overlook any of them. February is mostly about the second round of MWC play. So teams have a better idea of each other.

"You just need to be thorough, pay attention to details," Rose said. "And that includes getting players to be focused on not looking ahead."

BYU will play seven games this month, four on the road. This is also its best start to league play, after going 3-3 and 4-2 the previous two seasons.

• A little sarcasm never hurt: The Cougars are pretty good at chiding each other. Lee Cummard got into Jonathan Tavernari after winning at Air Force because Tavernari recorded a career-high four assists. The junior co-captain's hooting and hollering happened in the locker room as Rose discussed the game with reporters.

Tavernari, a sophomore power forward, doesn't exactly have a John Stockton-esque reputation.

"Lee let me have it, but this was a team effort," Tavernari said.

He also went on to credit the coaching staff for a game plan -- namely, the sly idea of providing little help defense during Falcon drives to the hoop, so that 3-point shooters weren't left open -- that helped augment the team's ability to win.

• Feeling better: Rose said Trent Plaisted was coming around Thursday and managed to practice some. "On the mend," was the coach's description.

The flu-ridden junior center had a gut-check effort (pun sort of intended) of 19 minutes at Air Force, getting nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Plaisted was able to sleep in his own bed Thursday, as the team returned home from Colorado Springs, Colo., around midnight on a private plane. The team will head to Wyoming by the same style of transportation tonight.