What all of the negative Nancy's are basing their predictions on (other than prior years). This is not last years team. The emphasis is different. The players have been vocal about their focus on defense. We have only had two games really this year (I'm not counting the high school game against Southern Virginia). You cannot base anything on the first two games of the season other than to possibly come to the conclusion that BYU improved between game one and game too. Even that is a difficult thing to evaluate given the probable significant difference in talent between Arkansas Little Rock and Long Beach State.

We need to give it some time. It is clear that we are going to play more man defense. That is a change. The effort is obviously improving. It is way too early to make season-long predictions. I will be very surprised if we are not significantly improved by the time conference season comes around and would not be surprised if we make significant improvements from game to game earlier in the season. Large improvements occur when the learning curve is steep and the starting point was one where an emphasis of defense has not been a primary focus. This is one of the most intriguing story lines of the season.

A significant improvement on defense will likely translate into a large improvement with the team. This is going to be a fun season.