The second round of Mountain West Conference play inevitably breeds a certain measure of familiarity. Everybody has seen everybody else, unless, of course, a team has inexplicably been hiding a Marcus Slaughter type on the end of the bench for half the year.

There are a few exceptions, of course. The Utes didn't see Wyoming's uber-shot blocker, Justin Williams, when they beat the Cowboys in Wyoming last week. Williams was sidelined with an ankle injury. But, for the most part, Utah knows what's coming.

And I think that can't help but be a good thing.

Many Utah players are making their way through the Mountain West Conference for the first time. And many are young enough that the familiarity might help the second time around.

Of course, the thinking could be reversed, too: The MWC's veterans could have been playing close attention during the first go-round.