Coach Jim Boylen and senior center Luke Nevill are headed to the Mountain West Conference's annual media day in Las Vegas on Tuesday, and it will be interesting to see how they rank in the preseason poll that will be released there.

Probably, we can expect fourth or fifth.

That's about where most preseason magazines seem to be picking the Utes, and many of the people who write those previews are media members around the league who voted in the poll. Me, I put the Utes fourth -- behind UNLV, Brigham Young and San Diego State, but ahead of New Mexico -- leaning heavily, as I did last year, on the idea that the teams with veteran coaches who have established continuity have a better chance to remain competitive year after year.

But really, that top group seems as if it could go any number of ways.

All of the teams have at least several top players returning, and all have upgraded their non-conference schedules. Much is going to depend on how much the returning players have improved -- have the Utes improved enough that it will be good for them to have all five starters back, for example, or will they play at pretty much the same level as last year? -- and which newcomers are ready to make an impact.

My guess is that the Utes will be noticeably better, now that they've had a year with Boylen, and will improve by two or three victories from last year -- an estimate mitigated by their rugged non-conference schedule.

By the way, former center Andrew Bogut is the only Utah player to be named to the league's 10th anniversary team, joining nine other players selected by members of the media, school officials and an online poll of fans.