One last item about the Utes before heading off for a post-coaching search vacation.

Center David Foster said he has received his call for the LDS Church mission he plans to serve. The 7-foot-2 freshman will serve for two years in Charlotte, N.C., starting May 23. He's fine with that -- no dashed hopes for a foreign mission call, he said -- and expects that if everything works out well, he will return in time to get in shape to join the Utes again for the 2009-10 season.

Of course, a lot can happen in all that time, especially with a new coach taking charge. But judging by the promise Foster showed in limited action last season, he seems poised to make a significant contribution in the future.

   Coach Jim Boylen did everything right on his first day as the new coach.

    Easily and passionately referenced student fans and local landmarks (he cited hotels, restaurants and ski areas, and said he used to walk across downtown for NBA summer league games), casually mentioned his relationships with legendary coaches and players (he joked about ordering Chinese food for Rudy Tomjanovich, and pantomimed taking a shot while recalling Hakeem Olajuwon beating the Jazz), and promised the Holy Trinity of college basketball accomplishments - playing hard, winning games and graduating players.

    Naturally, he also wore a red tie purchased by his wife - though broadcaster Bill Riley reminded me of the ominous sign that former coach Ray Giacoletti also wore a red tie purchased by his wife at his introductory press conference three years ago.

    And we all know how that turned out.

    Of course, on this day nobody was worrying about what might happen if Boylen doesn't live up to his resume - least of all him. Boylen at one point said "we're here for the long haul," which made me wince to think of how long a haul it will be for his young family if the Utes finish 11-19 again next year.

    But the general sentiment seems to be that anybody who can tell college kids about the way he coached a particular point with Olajuwon, or about how he used to suggest a way for Clyde Drexler or Charles Barkley to do something, probably knows enough about the game to make a real difference.

    It won't hurt, either, that he can flash either of his two NBA championship rings - one of which he wore during his introductory press conference, inspiring a question about whether it helps impress players.

    "It helps you in recruiting, I'll tell you that," he said. "It speaks about the mountaintop, and getting to the mountaintop is what this is all about. And we're going to try to get there and get [a ring] for this hand, from Utah."

    Like I said, he did everything right.

    Now, the real work begins.

Needless to say, it has been a busy day with the news that the Utes plan to hire Jim Boylen as the next coach.

But there is time for a brief note on the hiring.

While Boylen has a reputation as a strong strategic coach with deep roots working with some of the best players in the world in the NBA, it should also encourage fans to know that he is apparently one of the most gracious and delightful coaches they could ever hope to land.

You cannot have a conversation about Boylen with anybody even remotely connected to him or the Michigan State program in which he works - and believe me, I have had my share - without hearing what a wonderful guy he is and how people in Utah will be thrilled to have him.

One reporter who covers the Spartans even told me: "You definitely want Jim Boylen."

Of course, that might not mean a whole lot. Former coach Ray Giacoletti was a great guy, too, if maybe a little sheepish in public, and all it got him was a fast ride out of town after two disappointing seasons. But if Boylen's basketball chops live up to his reputation as a person - cultivated in the open and accessible regime of head coach Tom Izzo at MSU - the Utes should be in fine shape for the foreseeable future.

Consider the bar raised.

When the New Mexico Lobos introduced Iowa's Steve Alford as their new coach the other day, they also noted that they will be paying him a whopping $975,000 a year - setting precedent for the rest of the Mountain West Conference and suggesting that the Utes will have to really open their wallets for the successor to former coach Ray Giacoletti.

Athletic director Chris Hill did not have to do that, last time.

When he hired Giacoletti, he was able to pay him $425,000 a year guaranteed before bonuses - much less than the $700,000 to $800,000 that the job was widely expected to fetch - because Giacoletti was a little-known, second-choice candidate from the Big Sky Conference who wasn't in a position to command more than that.

Now, however, the Utes probably are going to have to pay a lot closer to what the Lobos paid Alford, lest they be seen as cheap in the eyes of the candidates they're trying to attract. Consider that one of the pitfalls of being the last of four Mountain West schools to fill its coaching vacancy.

And it's not just the Lobos who are opening the vault, either.

The Colorado State Rams are paying new coach Tim Miles a guaranteed salary of about $400,000, with another $250,000 a year available in performance bonuses. That's about double what former coach Dale Layer made in Fort Collins. And at Wyoming, new coach Heath Schroyer can earn up to $500,000 a year. Former coach Steve McClain was paid $380,000 to buy out the final year of his contract.

While we're all focused on whom athletic director Chris Hill is going to bring in as the next basketball coach, keep an eye on the one he just nudged out the door.

He's poised to really land on his feet.

Word within the coaching world is that if assistant coach Bill Grier winds up leaving Gonzaga for the head job at either San Diego or Santa Clara - he's reportedly a leading candidate for both - then Ray Giacoletti will join the Zags under old pal and head coach Mark Few.

That would certainly fit the plan Giacoletti described recently, working as an assistant coach for at least a few years to keep a low profile and attempt to enjoy the work of coaching without having to deal with some of the ancillary pressures that head coaches endure.

Of course, that option presumably would go out the window if Few leaves Gonzaga - perhaps for Oregon, perhaps for Kentucky. He's reportedly a candidate for both jobs, and one source said the Wildcats attempted to gauge Few's interest in succeeding Tubby Smith several weeks ago.

But what if Few does wind up taking a more glamorous job?

Grier is contractually entitled to have the first shot at replacing him at Gonzaga, if he elects not to take a head coaching job elsewhere. And if that happens, maybe Giacoletti winds up in the big time with Few - coaching at a top-notch school in a power conference and still getting paid by the Utes to the tune of $700,000 over the next four years.

And that wouldn't be a bad way to land, at all.

My feeling throughout this coaching search is that while we have been able to determine several candidates, athletic director Chris Hill surely must have some other possibilities he's considering whom we simply haven't identified.

But maybe not.

It's looking more and more as if Michigan State's Jim Boylen or Kent State's Jim Christian (or perhaps Old Dominion's Blaine Taylor) really are the top guys on the list. Both Boylen and Christian have interviewed, sources said, and Taylor might have either done so or prepared to do so. Taylor wasn't in his office today, and isn't expected back until Monday - potentially giving him plenty of opportunity to meet with Hill.

And considering that other dominoes are starting to fall - New Mexico is about to hire Iowa's Steve Alford, for example, and Colorado State appears to be closing in on North Dakota State's Tim Miles - the Utes might be getting close to the time they need to hire a coach or find a pretty sparse landscape of candidates.

My theory?

Hill has a favorite in mind among his top candidates, and will spend the next few days negotiating with him and perhaps working out a contract. Then, once he's finished with his duties at the NCAA Tournament regional in San Antonio, he'll put the finishing touches on the deal and have a new coach to introduce early next week.

Wishful thinking, perhaps. But also entirely plausible.

It has been a quiet weekend on the coaching search front, but an intriguing new possibility - however unlikely - has unexpectedly arisen.
Anybody like Steve Alford?
Word is that the embattled Iowa coach is looking for a way to escape the unkind fishbowl in which he is working, and has had people working behind the scenes on his behalf to see if he can emerge as a candidate not only for the New Mexico job - that possibility has been widely reported - but also the Utah job.
Now keep in mind, that is unconfirmed scuttlebutt, though it was hashed over on a Des Moines radio station.
But as much as he might by trying, Alford does not seem especially poised to pique the interest of Utah athletic director Chris Hill, in large part because Alford seems to be trying to stay one step ahead of an angry mob.
Many fans in Iowa are dissatisifed with the former Indiana star, who is 152-106 in eight seasons as the Hawkeyes coach and has reached the NCAA Tournament only once in that time.
He has a prickly relationship with the media and fans, and is widely believed to be looking for a way out of Iowa City after new athletic director Gary Barta seemed to give him an ultimatum by saying he expects improvement from the Hawkeyes next season. The team finished 17-14 this season - its seventh straight winning year - but lost badly in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament and failed to receive an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament.
That hardly sounds like the kind of resume that would excite many Utah fans, never mind the $1.1 million salary that Alford would be leaving.
He is under contract until 2011, too, meaning the Utes probably would have to scare up even more money than the $700,000 they are paying former coach Ray Giacoletti as a buyout for resigning his position - just to get Alford out from his current deal.
All in all, it does not seem like a realistic possibility.
But who knows?
Stranger things have happened, and perhaps Alford is among the candidates whom Hill plans to interview in the coming days. Just don’t put too much money it.

Judging by the way the coaching search has gone so far, it might be fair to wonder whether athletic director Chris Hill is trying to turn the Huntsman Center into a branch campus of the University of Montana.

Consider:

Former Montana coach Mike Montgomery was the first hot name to emerge in the search, though Montgomery told Hill he wasn't interested. (Hill, of course, absolutely would have been.) Then, Hill tried to hire Larry Krystkowiak, who played for Montgomery at Montana and later coached the Grizzlies.

Now, sources indicated the Hill plans to interview Michigan State assistant Jim Boylen when the Spartans finish their season. And how did Boylen start his coaching career? By working at MSU under former coach Jud Heathcote - who coached at Montana even before Montgomery.

Sensing a pattern here?

If nothing else, it certainly suggests a comfort level with the Montana coaching tree and the kind of coaches it seems to produce - level-headed, unpretentious guys who know the game and tend to put a premium on defense.

Utah State's Stew Morrill is one of those guys, and Hill considered him for the job when it was open three years ago. Naturally, Morrill was the guy who followed Montgomery as the coach at Montana.

One other guy whose name occasionally gets floated as a potential current candidate is Old Dominion's Blaine Taylor, who followed Morrill as the Montana coach, and later employed Krystkowiak as his assistant for a year at ODU.

Certainly, that credential would seem to qualify him for consideration.

But several sources have indicated the while Taylor wouldn't mind getting back out West at some point, he's unlikely to leave ODU for anything but a spectacular offer, in part because he has two teen-age kids in the middle of high school whom he's not keen on uprooting just now.

Taylor also has four years remaining on a contract that reportedly pays him a base salary of $200,000 - that's more than the $175,000 the Utes paid Giacoletti - though his annual total, with incentives and media deals, is believed to be well within $400,000. The Utes paid Giacoletti a total of nearly $500,000 a year.

Taylor is expected to have another great team lined up for next season, too, after the 24-8 Monarchs finish this season in the NCAA Tournament. A good tournament run could make him too hot (and in turn, too expensive) for the Utes, as well, if he's not already - having compiled a 118-67 record at Old Dominion.

But he does have that Montana feel.

Looks like former coach Rick Majerus is doing even more than just working as a broadcaster for ESPN. He's writing a daily blog for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, his hometown newspaper.

It's pretty amusing and informative, too.

The best part might be the pdf image of Majerus' hand-written predictions on his NCAA Tournament bracket. Bad news for local fans, though - he picks against both Brigham Young and Weber State in the first round.

Don't expect a whole lot of changes to the roster next season, considering every player with whom I spoke over the final weeks of the season indicated he planned to return.

But one guy probably won't be back.

Forward Misha Radojevic still has a year of eligibility, but the coaches have made it clear to him that he should probably earn his degree this summer and move on, knowing a new coach is probably going to want to use his scholarship on another player.

The 6-foot-9 forward from Serbia joined the Utes two years ago in the hope that he could help fill the void left when All-American Andrew Bogut departed for the NBA, but he never fulfilled the promise.

Two knee surgeries wiped out what mobility he had, and Radojevic wound up redshirting last season and playing sparingly this year. He appeared in just 14 games - including just 10 of the last 13 and none of the last eight - averaging 1.0 points in 5.8 minutes per game.

Presuming he departs, the Utes will have one scholarship to fill for next season - the one that had been taken away for several years as punishment for the NCAA violations committed under former coach Rick Majerus.

That also presumes that all three incoming recruits join the Utes as planned, and take up the scholarships being vacated by outgoing senior Ricky Johns, Radojevic and David Foster, who's expected to serve an LDS Church mission.

Athletic director Chris Hill cannot talk about specific teams or situations in discussing his role with the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee - rules, you know - so it's impossible to get a specific answer about the most obvious question looming over the Mountain West Conference today:

What happened to UNLV?

The Rebels went 28-6, won the league tournament, were ranked 10th in the Ratings Percentage Index, won nine of their last 10 games, faced the nation's 37th most-difficult schedule, went 9-5 on the road ... and were rewarded with a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"This is a seed against the Mountain West Conference," columnist Ed Graney wrote in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The 25-8 Brigham Young Cougars have a similar argument after drawing an eighth seed, but it's not nearly as strong. They lost the league tournament title game, played a weaker schedule, fared less impressively on the road and ranked 19th in the RPI.

Either way, though, Hill was unable to explain just how all of that happened, except to describe logistics that actually make it easy to understand.

Hill and the other nine members of the committee who set up the bracket and assign the seeds vote on the merits of each team by computer - which is to say, privately and anonymously.

And that's a good way to allow regional or institutional bias creep into the process.

Hill might not have tried to undercut the Rebels or the Cougars - contrary to the dark and illogical conspiracy theories of some fans - but there were nine others on that committee who could have done so for any number or reasons, from trying to boost their own teams and leagues to geographical familiarity or simple personal preference.

It's not as if Hill had much chance to talk them out of it, either.

In the meetings, he is not allowed to lobby on the behalf of his conference teams. In fact, he said he "cannot offer" any information about the Mountain West Conference teams to the rest of the committee unless somebody asks him a question. "And usually I can only respond with a factual thing," he said, "like did so-and-so beat so-and-so, or is somebody hurt."

Suddenly, it's not so hard to imagine how a team could wind up feeling slighted.

On the other hand, of course, is the argument that the Rebels did not get slighted.

After all, nobody seems to have a problem thinking the Rebels deserve their No. 19 ranking in the final AP Top 25, right? And if that is acceptably accurate - the Rebels were 25th, going into the league tournament - then having 24 teams seeded higher than them in the tournament does not seem like a horrible injustice.

Guess it all simply depends on what color jersey you wear.

Perhaps predictably, nobody seemed all that shocked or devastated in the locker room following the blowout loss that put an end to both the Utes' season and coach Ray Giacoletti's tenure leading them.

Nobody distraught.

Nobody angry.

All of the players and coaches seemed to be just going about their usual business, as if the 80-54 loss to UNLV in the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas was entirely expected.

Which, of course, it was.

Now, the players can just wait and see who their new coach will be, though center Luke Nevill offered some revealing thoughts when asked what he would like to see in a new coach.

"We want a coach who teaches continuously," he said. "On and off the court - teaching all the time, I guess. ... I've found that our coach was, you know, he taught us on-court, but didn't do as much, you know, off the court. And I want someone who's just more involved in everybody's lives than currently our coach is."

Larry Krystkowiak declined to return my calls, but he might have taken one from athletic director Chris Hill.

One source close to the Utes' coaching search said Krystkowiak is believed to have been contacted by Hill in his hunt to replace Ray Giacoletti - and that the assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks indicated he was interested in the job.

Now, that's not confirmed.

But it would make sense, explaining both Krystkowiak's reluctance to speak to a reporter about the opening as well as the urgency for the Utes to be rid of Giacoletti before the season even concluded. It probably wouldn't be hard for the two to get together, either, with the Bucks astonishingly home until March 26 and Hill working this week just 270 miles away in Indianapolis with the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.

Time will tell, I guess ...

Since we don't plan to throw the name of every theoretical coaching candidate in the newspaper until we can determine whether he's truly a viable candidate whom the Utes are pursuing - there's just not enough room, for starters - we'll try to keep you up to date on some of the possibilities here.

Keep in mind, many of the prospective coaching candidates are still working and nearly impossible to reach, and many of them are reluctant to speak openly about job opportunities. The ones that are, typically, don't have much of a chance of landing the job, though that's not always the case.

With that mind, then ...

We know the Mike Montgomery and Stew Morrill have said they're not interested. But in recent days, several others have told The Tribune they have not been contacted by athletic director Chris Hill or any intermediaries and do not expect to be among the candidates - including St. Mary's Randy Bennett, Weber State's Randy Rahe and Florida's Larry Shyatt.

Nevada's Mark Fox seems to be a popular candidate about whom to speculate - a one-line note at the bottom a FoxSports.com report earlier this week said the Utes were trying to lure him - but several people close to him have indicated that he's unlikely to consider the Utes in what would be something of a lateral move for him.

After all, he's making nearly $500,000 a year with a wife who's a senior administrator at the university, has a strong team coming back next season, and believes his next job can take him higher than the Mountain West Conference - as evidenced by predecessor Trent Johnson parlaying his success into the Stanford job three years ago.

However, three coaches with strong ties to the glory days under former coach Rick Majerus could be in the running.

Head coach Tommy Connor of Westminster College and assistant coach Donny Daniels of UCLA both have told The Tribune that they would be interested in the job, but had not been contacted about it. Meanwhile, head coach Dick Hunsaker of Utah Valley State College declined to answer any questions about the job - suggesting he's somehow in the mix but doesn't want to foul up his chances or anger his current employer.

"I have a great job," is all he would say, "and I love the job I have."

Interesting article in USA Today about escalating coaching salaries and the way college basketball coaches frequently turn success in the NCAA Tournament into lucrative contract extensions and bonuses.

Which reminds us ...

Coach Ray Giacoletti had an opportunity to do the same thing after his first year with the Utes, when he guided them to a 29-6 record and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. But he actively decided against it, out of a sense of loyalty to athletic director Chris Hill, whom Giacoletti felt already had done a lot for him.

Looking back, that might have been a mistake.

Giacoletti probably could have had at least one year added to his original seven-year contract, and if nothing else increased the buyout he would be paid if he were fired - or forced to resign, as happened last week. Giacoletti will get $700,000, as it is, but having another year on the deal under its original terms would have boosted the buyout to $875,000. It might have been even higher, too, had Giacoletti extracted both a contract extension and a raise in his base salary.

Maybe next time.

Nobody really expected he would be a serious candidate for the open coaching job with the Utes, but Utah State's Stew Morrill did respond during his weekly press conference to speculation that he might be on the list.

And he said just what many figured he would: "Since the day I got here nine years ago I said this would probably be my last job," he said. "I've said it a number of times, and it's the way I feel. Utah State's been great to me. It's been a two-way loyalty street and I don't see that changing. We already went down that road about three years ago, and I don't think that will even come up again."

Morrill was an unlikely choice for several reasons - primarily, he cherishes keeping a low profile with little attention up in Logan, rather than dealing with increased media and booster interest in a larger market. He didn't get the Utah job three years ago when he was a candidate, either, and he's probably not quite as dynamic a personality as athletic director Chris Hill presumably wants or needs this time around.

Coach Ray Giacoletti plans to take a vacation with his wife once the season is over, to get away for awhile and decompress from the difficult season that earned him a pink slip.

But after that?

Giacoletti said he probably will try to get back into coaching as an assistant coach, at least for a few seasons, to enjoy his chosen profession without all of the stressful things with which a head coach must cope.

There figures to be a lot of opportunity for him to head back home to the Midwest, too. The head coaches at Evansville, Illinois State and Indiana State already have been fired, with coaches at Western Illinois and Northern Illinois at risk of losing their jobs in the coming days.

Not that Giacoletti is necessarily tied to any of those jobs. But he is a native of Peoria, Ill., who acknowledged he might like to be closer to home for awhile, if there's an opportunity for him.

One rule of college coaching searches that usually holds up is that the only potential candidates willing to speak with reporters about a job opening are the ones who don't want it and the ones who can't get it.

Which is what makes Larry Krystkowiak intriguing.

The former Montana coach - he brought the Grizzlies to the Huntsman Center for an upset of Nevada in the NCAA Tournament last season, remember? - and Utah Jazz player is now an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, and he declined an interview request on Monday. Through a team representative, he said he would "take a pass" on the interview, knowing that the topic was his supposed candidacy to replace Ray Giacoletti with the Utes.

Now, that might not mean anything.

But I'd bet the opposite - that it means Krystkowiak is among the coaches with at least a reasonable chance of landing the job. And the Utes could do worse. The 42-year-old Krystkowiak led the Grizzlies to back-to-back Big Sky Conference tournament titles and NCAA Tournament berths in his two seasons coaching his alma mater, and has spent time with the Bucks helping tutor former Utah All-American Andrew Bogut.

Granted, the Bucks are having a horrible season - they're 22-38, going into a game at Orlando on Monday night - and Krystowiak is often mentioned as a possible replacement (interim, at least) for embattled coach Terry Stotts, should he get fired.

But he has a good reputation, a familiar with the city and the region, and connections in both college and pro basketball. He also has a bright personality that probably would be a good match for the Utes as they seek to renew fan interest in their sinking program.

Well, nobody could have been surprised that coach Ray Giacoletti resigned from the Utes - though his timing did catch the players and a few others off guard.

But it should not have been a surprise.

For starters, understand that Giacoletti was pressured into quitting, as evidenced by the university's willingness to pay him the $700,000 buyout he would have received if he had been terminated. Had Giacoletti really quit on his own - to take another job, for example, or just because he felt like it - he would have owed the university $250,000, according to the terms of his contract.

But the Utes wanted him gone without the stain of having fired the coach just three years after they hired him.

So they negotiated a way for Giacoletti to ''resign'' - putting the responsibility on him - but also getting the buyout for the four years remaining on his contract. That way, everybody gets to take the high road.

What's more, athletic director Chris Hill will be leaving town on Tuesday to begin his work in Indianapolis as a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. That means he will be basically incommunicado - nobody can even call his hotel room without a password - through March 11, and the Utes did not want to leave the
situation hanging unanswered for that long.

Which was smart.

Not only does the move relieve the crushing pressure on the coaches, but it placates the unsettled fan base and frees Hill to head to Indy with an actual coaching vacancy to fill. That could turn out to be crucial, too, considering how many rivals in the Mountain West Conference alone might soon be looking for new coaches, too. The
decision might just give the Utes the first crack at their top candidate, whoever that might be.

Still, it was pretty amusing watching Hill and Giacoletti try to stick to their script about who made the call.

Hill is actually pretty polished at it - he simply declined comment on everything, or cited ''Ray's decision'' - but Giacoletti had a hard time answering all of the questions about ''his'' decision. When asked why he made ''his'' decision now, instead of waiting until after the BYU game on Saturday and the Mountain West Conference tournament next week, he said, tellingly:

''That one, I'm not sure.''

Obviously, nobody told him.

Priceless.

With the end of the season probably not even a week away, it might not be a bad time to check in with the three players who will be joining the Utes next season.

And it's not a bad view, either.

Riverton's Morgan Grim has been enjoying a superb season, leading the Silverwolves into the semifinals of the Class 5-A boys basketball tournament tonight against Spanish Fork. The 6-foot-7 forward and his fellow Wolves - they're 16-7 - will be looking to avenge a one-point overtime loss to the Dons earlier this season.

Carlon Brown was just as good, but not quite so lucky.

The 6-4 shooting guard from King High School in Riverside, Calif., missed a three-pointer that would have forced overtime in a 66-63 upset loss to Los Alamitos in the Division I-A sectional semifinals earlier this week. Still, Brown has averaged about 17 points per game this season, helping lead King to a 27-4 record and Ivy League championship.

Meanwhile, power forward Nemanja Calasan scored 19 points for Midland College, but could not prevent a 94-91 home loss to Frank Phillips College in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference title game in Texas on Thursday night. Midland missed out on the No. 1 seed at next week's Region V Tournament, but the 22-8 Plainsmen still will have the No. 3 seed.

The Utes can breathe a sigh of relief this morning, knowing that they cannot possibly fall into the play-in game for the Mountain West Conference tournament now.

So thank you, New Mexico.

The Lobos lost 85-83 to UNLV at home on Wednesday night - they blew a 13-point lead and fell behind by 16, before a furious rally fell one last-second shot short - to assure a match-up with TCU in the play-in game on Tuesday. Now, the Utes can worry only about themselves, Wyoming and Colorado State in the battle for the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds.

The Utes can still grab the fifth seed, but they must beat Brigham Young on Saturday and have Colorado State lose at UNLV. In that case, they would play the fourth seed in the first round of the tournament - either San Diego State or Air Force. The Aztecs will be the fourth seed if they lose at home to TCU on Saturday. If the Aztecs win, the Falcons will be the fourth seed.

The Utes have beaten both teams.

The Utes will earn the sixth seed if they beat BYU but Colorado State beats UNLV (or, if Wyoming also beats New Mexico at home to create a three-way tie). In either case, the Utes again would play either San Diego State or Air Force in the tournament - whichever is seeded third.

If the Utes lose at BYU, though, they're doomed to the seventh seed, since they would lose any combination of tie-breakers with the Cowboys and Rams. And the seventh seed would wind up playing the second seed, UNLV. The Rebels swept the regular-season series with the Utes, winning 97-94 in double-overtime in Las Vegas and 70-57 in Salt Lake City.