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CBS' Clark Kellogg — who provided the analysis for Saturday's BYU-San Diego State game — was duly impressed by the Cougars and their star, Jimmer Fredette.

Well, a little more than just duly impressed.

"If I was voting, Jimmer would be my Player of the Year," said Kellogg, the network's lead NCAA Tournament analyst. "Nobody has combined the consistency and brilliance that Jimmer has.

"You have to produce numbers. It helps if you're winning consistently. But you also have to do it in a way that captures the attention of folks. There has to be something a little eye-popping about it. And he qualifies in all those areas."

Kellogg also thinks that it will help that Fredette got the kind of exposure on CBS that he hasn't had this season. Because BYU has been playing in the relative anonymity of The Mtn., CBS C and Versus, a lot of people haven't seen him play.

"I'm certain there are a number of folks who tuned in [Saturday] because they had heard about his exploits and his brilliance as a player," Kellogg said. "As much as we think cable TV is ubiquitous and DirecTV is in everybody's house, it's not. CBS is. There's a number of eyeballs you get when you're on CBS that you don't get when you're on The Mtn. network, Fox Sports or wherever else."

The BYU-SDSU game drew a 2.0 rating/5 share. (A rating point equals 1,159,000 households; a share point represent 1 percent of the homes where someone is watching TV at a particular time.)

Significantly, BYU-SDSU attracted higher ratings than the game that preceded iton CBS (Syracuse-Georgetown, 1.2/3) as well as the one that followed them (Florida-Kentucky, 1.7/4).

The big win on CBS won't hurt when the NCAA seedings are announced, either.

"I look for BYU to be solidly on the two line, with a chance, perhaps, to earn a one-seed," Kellogg said.

He said he could see BYU slip from a two-seed to a three because of "geographic concerns and BYU not being able to play on Sundays." But Kellogg expects them to be a one- or two-seed. "And I think they've got a chance to advance deep [in the tournament]. They're good enough. There's no question about that."

Kellogg said the Cougars and their fans shouldn't sweat the one-vs-two thing.

"The difference is negligible, other than the prestige," he said. "At the end of the day, you need to play well, whatever the number next to your name is.

"And they seem like the kind of team that it would have an impact on them."

He rejects the notion that the Cougars are over-rated.

"I think they would match up against just about anybody they would face," Kellogg said. "I don't see them at a huge disadvantage against anybody I've seen. And I've seen Kansas and Texas and Ohio State and Purdue and North Carolina and Kentucky and Louisville. I don't see where they would be in awe playing any of those teams."

And he's even more convinced of that after seeing the Cougars play in person.

"In person, you can see a tenacity and a toughness that may not come across on television," Kellogg said. "I mean, Jimmer got banged around pretty good in that game. And even though he showed a bit of frustration in his facial expressions, I think it steeled him. And fortified him for the fight. And he came up big when he needed to."

Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune. His column on sports on TV appears Wednesday. Contact him at spierce@sltrib.com.