Coming off brutally lopsided losses to BYU and UNLV, New Mexico head coach Steve Alford said Monday that he'd be fine not playing those two teams again.

It's a true, fair round-robin in these parts.

In an increasingly rare circumstance, as conference expansion became the norm a few years ago, the Mountain West Conference still has a system that requires all of its nine members to play each other twice.

The Pac-10 Conference does it, but as Alford knew at Iowa and first-year Utah coach Jim Boylen recognized as a way of life as an assistant at Michigan State, the norm is becoming a usually unfair conference schedule.

Boylen says the Big Ten system was based on computers, and some luck of the draw. There are some natural matchups that take place, but there was risk of facing a very good team twice and a poor one just once -- or vice versa. The Big 12 and ACC, as two examples, also have leagues that are too big to play every team home-and-home.

Is that any way to crown a league champ?

Neil Dougherty of TCU knew all about those inconsistencies when the Horned Frogs were a member of Conference USA three seasons ago. He appreciates that the MWC kept the round-robin format, even though it removed the chances for a couple of non-conference games.

"You should be a little better prepared when you play them the second time, hopefully," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said.

As of Tuesday, Colorado State and New Mexico will join Wyoming as teams that have experienced the entire first half of league play. The rest will join them Wednesday, including BYU at home against TCU.

Revenge. Location. Momentum. Injuries. Desire.

Those, and other factors, could all come into play as the teams reach the stretch of their season.

Could bottom-dweller Colorado State, which hasn't won a league game yet, produce an upset in Fort Collins or on the road that dramatically alters the title race?

Can UNLV, currently tied at the top with the Cougars, maintain form despite still having to still play at BYU (winners of 42 in a row at the Marriott Center) and New Mexico? Wyoming and Utah are two of the more intense teams in the league, and with new coaches it may be taking longer to mesh. The second round could be their calling card.

The Cougars must still go to San Diego, a shop of horrors in recent seasons.

Their head coach, Dave Rose, continues to preach consistency and focusing on details -- and not looking ahead. BYU also gets the chance to bring in UNLV, which throttled the Cougars last month.

Alford said he doesn't want any part of the league's first-place teams. Confidence is obviously an issue.

So how's this? After playing the two best teams on the road, it gets the two worst at home. UNM will play CSU tonight, then Wyoming on Saturday. That's a good place to get in a groove.

Alford looks around the MWC, however, and thinks it'll be tough to catch UNLV and BYU.

"They've been there. They have been at the top, they understand what the top's about," he said of the top two teams from a year ago.

• Lobbyists in a different arena: If it's February, just less than six weeks from Selection Sunday, it's a good bet the media will jump way ahead of the game and start asking coaches about teams which merit consideration for the NCAA tournament's field of 65.

Let the lobbying begin.

On the weekly conference call, every Monday, no coach has ever bagged the MWC and said it should be a one-bid league. That being said, San Diego State's Steve Fisher brought some honesty to the conversation of how good the league is.

"It is better than people thought, myself included," Fisher said. "I thought we would take a step back, to be real candid. I do know that we have some terrific teams in this league that can compete with any league. Hopefully, when the dust settles at the end of the season, that will be reflected in postseason (bids)."

There had been talk about it being a one-bid league, in early January, after BYU was throttled at UNLV. But now those two teams are pulling away from the pack, and appear to at least be in consideration for at-large bids. It's mostly typical for the MWC to get two teams in (the conference tournament winner in mid-March is a sure thing). Three is gravy.

One thing coaches like Fisher agree on is that it would be tough to gauge the league's top talent because of its youth. Most of the scoring comes from the junior class, and those are players like BYU's Lee Cummard and Trent Plaisted, who have stepped into more pivotal roles.

Combine players like Brandon Ewing (Wyoming), along with junior-college transfers Henry Salter (TCU) and Marcus Walker (Colorado State), and it's a league which could have a very solid two-year window.

As for tournament time, UNLV coach Lon Kruger has been down this road several times. He basically yawned at the question -- and for good reason. A lot can happen in the next 8-9 games, as teams gear toward the second round.

Kruger thought four or five teams would warrant postseason consideration, but "all of them have to finish strong and continue to get better."

• Miles of laughs: The MWC coach who's earning the biggest media cheering section is Colorado State's Tim Miles. Though his team hasn't won in seven league games, and has been stuck on six victories since what seems like last November, he continues to keep a sense of humor.

Asked whether injured center Stuart Creason (foot) would be available by Saturday at UNLV, as the senior has apparently hinted to local media, Miles gave a good quip.

Check out "He Said It" on this page for his response.

As for the win total, he gives some gallows humor.

"Even though we've been on six for over a month, it's not my favorite number," said Miles, who previously coached at North Dakota State. "I'm looking forward to seven sometime soon."

• Trap game: Wyoming, the only team to get through the first round of league play (2-6), gets a rare non-conference game this late in the season. Cal State-Bakersfield is in Laramie on Wednesday.

It's not coach Heath Schroyer's ideal time. And he understands the game has to be approached with focus. San Diego State had a similar situation last month, opening MWC action with a win against TCU before losing at home to Northern Colorado.

It was a classic case of the Aztecs thinking they only needed to show up. Hurting for wins, even at home, the Cowboys can't afford such malaise.

POWER RANKINGS (Last week's in parentheses)

1. UNLV (17-4, 6-1) Scored 21 of first 26 points at home vs. New Mexico on Sat. (1)

2. BYU (17-5, 6-1) Charging toward critical Feb. 16 clash at MC with Rebels (2)

3. San Diego State (15-6, 5-2) Always living on edge, even at horrible CSU (3)

4. Air Force (12-8, 4-3) Last MWC team with winning record in league play (5)

5. Utah (12-8, 3-4) Looking to hit spurt that leads to higher tournament seed (6)

6. New Mexico (16-6, 3-4) Blowout losses at BYU, UNLV might've killed psyches (4)

7. Wyoming (8-12, 2-6) It'll get there, but Jones and Ewing clearly not enough (8)

8. TCU (11-9, 3-4) Brutal to lose to Air Force at home (7)

9. Colorado State (0-7, 6-15) Poor coach Miles joking that six is not his favorite number (9)

HE SAID IT

"The last guy that I remember who wrote in stone was Moses." First-year Colorado State coach Tim Miles, when asked if it was "written in stone" that injured center Stuart Creason would be suiting up for this Saturday's game at UNLV, as the player has suggested.

HE DID IT

Lee Cummard, BYU's junior guard-forward averaged 23 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins last week at Air Force and Wyoming. He shared the award with UNLV guard Wink Adams, whose team is tied with the Cougars for first place.

"A couple of years ago, you would say Lee does a little bit of everything," TCU coach Neil Dougherty said. "Now, he does a lot of everything. And if we all had one, we would be much better teams."

IN CASE YOU WONDERED:

About midway through the league race, reporters asked BYU head coach Dave Rose who he enjoys watching in the league. He was told not to pick his own players.

He chose for his fave five:

Air Force senior guard Tim Anderson; Utah senior sixth-man guard Johnnie Bryant; UNLV guard Curtis Terry and teammate Wink Adams; San Diego State junior forward Lorrenzo Wade. The coach he's admiring right now is Air Force's first-year leader Jeff Reynolds, who has kept the Falcons respectable despite losing so much production to graduation.