Maybe you saw the article we published today about how the coaches in the Mountain West Conference believe the upcoming season can be special, because of experience coming back and the generally improved schedules around the league.

But coach Jim Boylen had plenty more to say on the topic than we could fit into print.

Though he agreed with some of his colleagues that it's increasingly difficult to get "marquee" teams to agree to home-and-home scheduling arrangements -- Air Force's Jeff Reynolds was particularly agitated about the problem -- he said it has to be done.

"As a group, our league needs to improve our schedule strength, for us to be a three, four-bid league," he said. "I think we should be a three or four-bid league. I think we have the talent. I think we have the level of schools to do that. But overall, we all have to play more competitive schedules."

Reynolds complained that big schools armed with plenty of money, such as Stanford, generally want to just pay Air Force to come play in their arenas without returning the trip. That way, they can load their schedules with tons of home games, increasing the likelihood of having a good record and making a nice profit.

And while that suggests a level of respect that maybe isn't reflected among fans nationwide -- Stanford is worried about playing at Clune Arena? -- it doesn't help the cause in the Mountain West.

Boylen, however, found a way to make it work for the Utes, who play at Oklahoma and against Oregon, Cal, Gonzaga and LSU at home this season.

"I always say, 'We'll come there first,'" he said. "And their argument's over. You know, when you come into it and you say I want you to come to our place first, right away, there's, 'Whoa, whoa ... hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.' Obviously, we're at altitude and obviously we have a great tradition, and I also think, humbly, that people think we're getting better."