It's never too soon to start thinking about the NCAA Tournament, at least according to ESPN.COM.

Joe Lunardi, an ESPN.COM writer, has the Mountain West Conference taking two teams to the big dance.

Can you guess who?

Well, I'd hope any casual follower would throw Air Force, the Utes' opponent on Thursday night, on ESPN2, in the mix. The team is 15-2, with losses to now No. 13 Washington and Wyoming. Coach Jeff Bzdelik has the team headed in the right direction. He's got them as a No. 11 seed.

It's Lunardi's second pick that seems like a surprise.

He's got Wyoming as a No. 14 seed.

Where's Utah, the team that reached the Sweet Sixteen a year ago? Nowhere to be found, it seems. And so far, that's kind of where they belong.

The Utes will likely need a great showing at the Mountain West Conference Tournament if they are to keep their four-year NCAA Tourney streak alive.

The Aztecs are coming and well, the Utes had better be on their toes.

When the Mountain West Conference preseason poll came out, San Diego State was atop the list if only because it seemed to have more players returning than any other team in an open conference.

But through nonconference play, it was Air Force which distinguished itself, with a great start - the Falcons are 14-1 and haven't lost since mid-November.

San Diego played Air Force tough in a 65-62 loss last week. And they've got their best player back. Forward Marcus Slaughter was out since mid-December with a second-degree MCL tear.

There's no way the Aztecs (8-6, 1-1) are still the favorite to win the conference - really, it's too early to tell who it will be - but this much is certain: They'll be ready to play Wednesday.

Utah men's basketball coach Ray Giacoletti suffered some kind of wake-up call this season. And it could be argued that it's come a year late.

The second-year coach from Eastern Washington eased into his new job with a No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft and a Sweet 16 appearance last season.

Nobody is predicting such a finish this year.

The Utes are young and Giacoletti is still trying to bring in his type of players all while making sure he's still good to those left over from the Rick Majerus years.

If he can continue to get results like he did in the Utes' conference opener, possibly leading Utah to a MWC Championship, he'll have proved himself in a much more challenging setting.

Have you seen their scorelines?

BYU's Cougars aren't the team everyone in the Mountain West picked to finish last in the conference.

But the Cougars, under first-year coach Dave Rose, are scoring nearly 80 points a game. They're running and gunning , much like the Washington State or Arizona teams the Utes lost to earlier this season, both by 20-plus points.

So when Utah travels to Provo today for its second MWC game of the year, don't expect the Cougars to roll over the Utes.

Run them over? Maybe.

Although neither Chris Jackson nor Luke Nevill played well against New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference opener, it's time to ask an important question about Utah's pair of centers.

Who's going to be the go-to guy?

They split time equally for the better part of the nonconference schedule, as coach Ray Giacoletti tried to give Nevill, the redshirt freshman, as much experience as he could in the early going.

Jackson is in his fifth and final season at Utah, and although he's had a magnificent year so far - the 6-foot-10 senior was shooting more than 75 percent from the field before UNM - he won't be around beyond March.

When the going gets tight, the emphasis won't be on trying to improve as much as it was in nonconference. It will be on trying to find a way to win.

Which big guy is going to get it done?

The Utes have played just one Mountain West Conference game and it's too early to jump to conclusions.

But TV and radio guys do it all the time, so why not in blogland?

Back to the heart of the matter - the Utes could be better than we all thought.

Keep in mind, I said "could."

The team still needs time. But after a dismal December, in which nobody really was happy with the way things went, the Utes figured it's more fun to win than it is to lose to teams by some 20 points on a regular basis.

The 64-49 victory over New Mexico should give the Utes a shot of much-needed confidence as they head to Provo to face a better-than-expected BYU team that was picked to finish last in the MWC. The win comes on the heels of the Utes' biggest win of the season, an 80-44 thrashing of High Point.

Giacoletti has said over and over again that all he and his staff are trying to do is "make sure we get better every day." If that means regular wins over MWC teams, then, by all means, keep on it.