The Mountain West Conference wants to add a third component to the "damned if you do; damned if you don't" reality of ambitious non-conference scheduling.

Call it the "what if" component. As in: What if MWC teams play rugged non-conference slates and actually whip a couple of highly-touted heavies from Bowl Championship Series fiefdoms? Will that be enough for those teams to break through the entrenched monopoly on big-money bowl games?

It may be the only way to earn national respect and grab an invitation to the lucrative penthouse party that the six BCS conferences have reserved for themselves at the expense of the so-called "minor" conferences.

It won't be easy. When the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll was released, nary a MWC team earned a spot in the preseason top-25.

Last year, a 12-0 BYU squad squawked about being left out of the BCS mix, while the media retorted with a finger pointed at a weak schedule. Then the Cougars closed their season with demoralizing losses at Hawaii and against Louisville in the Liberty Bowl and finished ranked No. 24 (No. 25, AP), the lone MWC team in the final national polls.

Look at this year's MWC non-conference schedules: Colorado, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Washington, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse, Oregon State, UCLA and Northwestern.

One word: Ouch. But no pain, no gain.

MWC media tapped Colorado State as the preseason favorite. The Rams first six games include road trips to Virginia, UCLA and Fresno State, as well as a home game with Louisville and a date with Colorado in Denver.

"(We) may have bitten off more than (we) can chew," Rams coach Sonny Lubick said. "I have to be smart about scheduling. But I think it's time for our program to see what it's made of. You can't judge everything on those first three games, though I know we will be judged on (them)."

The highly optimistic upside is a 6-0 start before the conference schedule begins likely would land the Rams in the nation's Top 10, if not the Top 5. The downside is exhibit A, UNLV, which saw high expectations in 2001 disappear behind an 0-4 start that included three non-conference defeats.

The history isn't encouraging. The MWC is 14-35 since 1999 against BCS conferences, including a 4-12 mark last year.

"I think if you overdo it with the BCS and schedule too many games on the road it wears you out for conference play," BYU coach Gary Crowton said. "Most of the BCS conferences have very few [challenging] games out of conference. A lot of them play I-AA teams, and most of those non-conference games are at home. You have to be careful how you schedule it, but we're not afraid to play anybody in the country."

Utah, which visits Michigan on Sept. 21, joins Colorado State and BYU as a MWC preseason favorite because it welcomes back eight starters from one of the nation's best defenses.

The Utes played USC in the Las Vegas Bowl last year. The Trojans entered the contest riding a four-game Pac-10 winning streak, including a 27-0 defeat of UCLA, and had lost to Oregon and Washington by a combined five points.

The Utes physically dominated the game, holding the Trojans to one net yard rushing in a 10-6 victory.

"Our kids weren't mesmerized by USC," Utah coach Ron McBride said.

The national media, however, is mesmerized by the BC$. That's the spell the MWC has to break to earn a $pot at the table.

Game of the Year
Colorado State at Utah, Oct. 19. Last year, the Rams slipped the Utes 19-17, one of Utah's three conference defeats by a field goal or less. This one figures to be trench warfare, pitting Colorado State's powerful ground game against the Utes' dominating defense.

Offensive Player of the Year
BYU WR Reno Mahe. He needs 97 receptions to become the pass-happy Cougars all-time leading receiver. That sounds like a bunch, but he caught 91 passes for 1,211 yards last year. Without Luke Staley running the ball, he should see even more tosses coming his way.

Defensive Player of the Year
Utah LB Sheldon Deckart. He's the best player on the MWC's best defense. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Deckart led the Utes last year with 86 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, six sacks and six pass breakups.

Ted Miller covers college football for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.