The all-important BCS standings aren’t due to come out for a couple hours yet, but the Cougars have moved up in both the AP Poll and the USA Today/Coaches Poll.
BYU is all the way up to No. 15 in the coaches poll (part of the BCS formula) after being ranked No. 18 last week before it pounded Air Force 38-21 on Saturday.
TCU remained No. 4 and Utah moved up to No. 19 (from No. 23) in the coaches poll.
In the AP poll, the Cougars climbed just one spot and are now at No. 18.
The Utes are No. 22 (from No. 23) and TCU remained at No. 4 in the AP Poll.

Funny, what a little emotion and passion can bring when one football team is clearly better than another.
Playing with fire not seen in last week’s win at New Mexico, the Cougars strolled past Air Force 38-21 in a game that really wasn’t that close.
Aside from being penalized seven times for 75 yards (AFA was penalized twice) and seeing Max Hall throw two interceptions, the Cougars were close to flawless in the win.
They improved to 9-2, and pretty much assured themselves a trip to either the Las Vegas Bowl or the Poinsettia Bowl.
After the game, several players were asked about next week’s Utah game, but they were all hush-hush, saying they would discuss the Utes on Monday.
“I would prefer not to talk about Utah yet,” said Andrew Rich, after causing a fumble and intercepting two passes.
So, we will wait until Monday for that. The Cougars said they will spend the rest of the weekend savoring this win. And well they should.
They beat a pretty good AFA team, one that  hadn’t given up more than 20 points in regulation in one game all season.
The Cougars also had two touchdowns called back -- and failed to score on both of those possessions, or it could have been worse for the Falcons.
“I really thought our team played well today,” coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “They played very physically. They were excited to play and they controlled the momentum from start to finish. I thought our program really did a nice job in preparation and moving forward today.”

Hello from windy LaVell Edwards Stadium.
It’s about an hour before game time, and every flag in the stadium is flapping hard in the breeze. The wind is blowing from the North.
Temperature is 42 degrees, but with wind chill factor, it feels much colder than that.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall was asked several times this week how the weather could effect the game, and each time he shrugged it off and said the best-prepared team will win, regardless of the conditions.
But I have to think a windy day favors a running team, such as Air Force. Then again, the wind might completely take away the Falcons’ ability to throw the ball at all.
So who knows?
What is not known is how effective BYU running back Harvey Unga will be today. Unga is said to be a “game-time decision,” but I will be stunned if he doesn’t play.
As far as the wind goes, I’ve been watching Mitch Payne attempt some field goals with the wind at his back, and he’s drilled all of them.

A couple of interesting pieces by my colleague who covers Utah football, Lya Wodraska, that can be found online today.
First, there is a story about why college football teams, including BYU, make it a habit of staying at a hotel the night before a home game.
In helping Lya research the story, I asked BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall why the Cougars do it, and here’s what he said.
“I really like the idea of having the team together the night before a game. And I woud oppose it if [we were asked to change].
Even if it means staying in a less expensive hotel, cutting down on the type of meals we get. There are so many distractions -- family members coming into town, other students coming into their apartments, their dorms. I mean, it would be nice to have them just focus on the game and have a place where they can get a quiet night’s rest. And it is not in the dorms, it is not in their apartments.
I think it is one of the things that they have certainly earned.”

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Lya just blogged about bowl possibilities for the Utes and Cougars and raises the interesting question regarding whether it would be better for Utah if BYU wins on Saturday, rather than Air Force.
An Air Force win (in its final regular-season game) would put the Falcons into contention for the Poinsettia Bowl, regardless of what happens in the BYU-Utah game.
Yes, back-to-back losses to end the season for BYU could relegate the Cougars to the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth on New Year’s Eve.

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This will be the second-straight year that BYU will play the team widely considered to be the toughest to prepare for in the conference before it plays rival Utah.
I asked Mendenhall if it is a big disadvantage to play AFA the week before the rivalry game.
“It can go either way,” he said. “Scheme-wise, you have to do quite a few different things. But mentally, it certainly keeps your mind on that one game, rather than the one that is coming up, because you certainly can’t come close to playing Air Force unless that is all you are thinking about.  I can see it both ways.”
I asked if a team gets more beat up playing AFA than anyone else.
“Sure. No question. No question,” he said.

We took a look at the success of Air Force’s defense in the newspaper today, and wondered how the Falcons have turned into a top 10 defense despite some obvious limitations.
BYU quarterback Max Hall said he is especially impressed with what Air Force has done, after watching flim on them this week.
“They are playing with kind of a different swagger and confidence than they have in year’s past, at least since I have been here,” he said. “And they have a lot of seniors and some leadership on the defense, so I think it is going to be a tough challenge for us as an offense.
But at the same time, I am excited for it. We look forward to a challenge and to see what we can do against it.
You just prepare like crazy and get ready, and hopefully we can do some things that will cause some trouble for them.”

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Unfortunately, tonight’s BYU basketball game at Hawaii won’t be televised. Here’s my advance of the game as coach Dave Rose goes for his 100th win.

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Back to football, BYU’s Dennis Pitta doesn’t need to be reminded what happened the last time the Cougars faced Air Force.
“Yeah, it is pretty burned in my memory,” he said.
The Mackey Award candidate for the top tight end in the country suffered a knee injury after catching a pass last year during BYU’s 38-24 win in Colorado Springs when Air Force cornerback Reggie Rembert hit him low.
Pitta played the following week against Utah with a heavy brace on his knee, but was not  close to 100 percent.
The senior called it “an unfortunate injury” and said he holds no anger toward the Falcons.
“No, not at all,” he said. “It was a clean play, and obviously DBs go low a lot of times, especially on myself, being a bigger receiver.  It is something I have seen before, and it just caught me at an awkward angle. No hard feelings at all, no hostility.”

Just heard from a BYU football spokesperson who attended tonight’s practice, which was closed to the media.
Running back Harvey Unga practiced tonight on his sprained left ankle.
Coaches will “probably decide on playing status Saturday,” according to the official.

BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari must be feeling like a man on an island these days, and not just because he’s with the Cougar basketball team in Hawaii.
Tavernari can’t hit the ocean from a boat with his jump shot to start the season. Maybe being surrounded by water on Friday night will help.
However, coach Dave Rose said after Tuesday’s 87-53 beatdown of Idaho State that he’s not concerned.
“I think the first game he forced a lot of shots,” Rose said. “There were quite a few shots that were ill-advised. We kind of worked through that. I think tonight he took really good shots, for him. He’s just having a hard time making them, but he’s a confident guy and we have a lot of confidence in him.”
“JT has been really, really good for us the past three years, and he is going to be really, really good for us this year, too. But that’s part of the deal. You just have to work through it.”
Tavernari is 7-for-30 in two games, including a frosty 3-for-14 from three-point range.
Jackson Emery said JT should do what he always does -- keep shooting.
“I got all my misses out the other night,” Emery said. “Just kind of JT’s philosophy: Just keep shooting  and eventually they will fall.”