Everybody knows by now that the only downside to the Utes snapping their five-game losing streak against UNLV last night is that they also gave rival Brigham Young the inside track to another regular-season Mountain West Conference championship.

Not that the Utes professed to care.

"We're not worried about that," guard Johnnie Bryant said, studiously avoiding the easy opportunity for a glib one-liner. "We're just worrying about getting better each day and, you know, taking care of ourselves. We can't worry about everybody else."

Of course, the Utes can still affect the race by beating the Cougars on the road on Feb. 20 -- although the Cougs' homecourt winning streak figures to stand at 44 games by then. On the other hand, snapping such a streak would make a rivalry victory all the sweeter.

And the victory over the Rebels seems to suggest the Utes have a legitimate chance to do a lot better over their current four-game, season-defining stretch that I would have previously imagined. I figured they would be fortunate to win even two of those games -- against UNLV, at Air Force, against San Diego State and at BYU. But now, winning three of them doesn't seem out of the question, even though winning in Provo still seems a bit of a stretch.