For all the attention the Mountain West brought to itself following last season, with a Sugar Bowl win, hearings on Capitol Hill and proposals for playoffs, scrutiny now finds that the league this year, about halfway in, isn't particularly impressive.

Of course, comparing the MWC to other conferences, which is what the aforementioned hubbub was about, some other leagues aren't all that stunning, either. The conference is 5-9 against BCS leagues.

Even at the top, the Mountain West's holy trinity -- TCU, BYU, and Utah -- might not be as strong as some had thought. And with the conference being what it is, the schedule, outside of a few remaining league games, might not reveal much about their quality.

Take this week's local slate as an example.

Utah plays at UNLV, a team that is 2-4, having lost three straight games, and, in the last two, the Rebs gave up a combined 122 points and 1,384 yards.

BYU heads off to San Diego State. The Aztecs beat Southern Utah and New Mexico State at home -- but they also got rolled by UCLA and Idaho. It remains a mystery why a school like SDSU stinks, except that it must be tough, trying to lure young recruits to a destination as undesirable as San Diego.

Go figure: Boise State is ranked No. 5, San Diego State is ... what, 96th?

Triple negatives aside, no one will learn nothing about nobody this week. But that's not an isolated problem in the MWC schedule.

Beyond the ineptitude of UNLV and San Diego State, New Mexico is one of the worst teams in America, having lost six and won none. Colorado State was lucky to beat Weber State, by a single point, and lost to Idaho. Air Force lost to Minnesota and Navy, although the Falcons gave TCU a fight before falling, 20-17, which might be a positive for Air Force or a negative for the Horned Frogs.

Then, there's emerging league darling Wyoming, which lost on its home field to Texas by 31 points and was blown out and shut out by Colorado, a bad BCS league team. Two of the Cowboys' four wins came by a total of five points, 30-27 at home over UNLV, and 30-28 on the road against perennial loser Florida Atlantic, which is 0-4. The other two victories came over Weber and New Mexico.

That leaves ... You Know Who.

TCU, ranked No. 8, has a defense that would scare the paint off a wall, but an offense that scares few. The Frogs put just 14 points on Clemson and 20 on Air Force.

BYU is what we thought it would be: an explosive offense, mixed with a defense that usually makes up for its deficiencies but sometimes doesn't. The lopsided loss at home to Florida State was a costly mistake. Had BYU won, it now would be ranked in the top five, a candidate to play for the national championship.

It was a whiffed chance that, if the Cougars manage to go unbeaten the rest of the way, will find a bitter resting place at BYU, filed under the following label: "Infamy."

Wins over Colorado State and UNLV didn't prove much, nor will a victory in San Diego.

Utah frightened the bejeebers out of itself and its fans against CSU. Still, the Utes are an intriguing group that could end up better than projected, given the development of players such as Terrance Cain, Eddie Wide and David Reed. Its secondary, other than Robert Johnson, is susceptible.

As far as what remains, what should be, the only real threats in league play are the games between the big three. If BYU beats TCU, it would only have to close out against Utah at home.

Regarding that former task, see if you can follow along here: The Cougars are well-suited to beating TCU because 1) they have a better chance against a good team with a good defense and a limited offense, which would be less of a threat to their own defense, than against a good team with a potent offense that could abuse the Cougar D, and 2) they are playing at home.

About the latter challenge, when Utah and BYU play, it's a crapshoot. Being at home should give the Cougars the edge.

As for Utah playing TCU, the combination of being on the road and facing that defense with a young offense isn't promising for the Utes. But if Utah's defense plays to its potential, it could handle the TCU O.

Bottom line: Those are the only games that will tell us anything about how good the Utes, Cougars, and Frogs are. The other league games, based on the level of competition, can only reveal how bad they can be.

GORDON MONSON hosts the "Monson and Graham Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com .