Yeah, the men's basketball coaches in the Mountain West Conference can foresee a breakout season.

"There's an opportunity to get some really prestigious, national-type of wins," Brigham Young coach Dave Rose said at the league's annual media day Tuesday. "And that's what we need to do. . . . You need to win those games."

That seldom has come easily for the Mountain West, which is entering its 10th basketball season still aspiring to become a league that perennially lands at least three teams in the NCAA Tournament. That hasn't happened in nearly five years, but the coaches believe that it's a realistic possibility this season - particularly if the top teams take advantage of their nonconference opportunities against some marquee opponents the way the football teams have done.

"Absolutely," Utah coach Jim Boylen said. "We're going to have as good a basketball season as you can have."

For several reasons.

A year after introducing five new coaches, including Boylen, the Mountain West will have more continuity this season, with only TCU's Jim Christian - the former Kent State coach played against Boylen in college - replacing Neil Dougherty.

Just as important, most of the teams have sought to upgrade their nonconference schedules in an effort to improve their Ratings Percentage Index ranking, which is crucial in determining NCAA Tournament berths.

The Utes play Oregon, Cal, Gonzaga, Oklahoma and LSU, for example, while the New Mexico Lobos - a year after winning 24 games but getting left out of the NCAA Tournament because of a weak schedule - meet Creighton, Mississippi, Texas Tech and either Drake or Vanderbilt. Even TCU has games at Indiana and Colorado.

"We win 24 games and don't get a sniff?" New Mexico coach Steve Alford said, referring to last season. "That's kind of hard to swallow. You have to do something."

It's not limited to scheduling, either.

Wyoming's Heath Schroyer said there's an arms race going on in the league, illustrated by the increasing amounts of money that schools are dedicating to facilities.

"There's a new commitment in the league to take it to a higher level," he said.

But the real drama will be on the floor. Seven of the top scorers from last season are back, including reigning player of the year Lee Cummard of BYU. The Utes and San Diego State have all five starters returning, too, while the Lobos have four, theoretically improving the league's experience and maturity.

"The conference is definitely deeper this year," Cummard said. "I don't know if we'll necessarily ever have three teams ranked like the conference has right now in football. But I can see a few of these teams cracking the top 15 or top 10. There's teams in this league that are very capable of that."

mcl@sltrib.com