That it appears that there is a very deep bench. Rose has confidence in quite a few players. Furthermore, not only does he go deep but people that are not starters or that were previously not expected to be major contributors seem to be stepping up.

Earlier this year, most would have felt that BYU really had 4 scorers on this team (Haws, Collinsworth, Fischer, and Winder). It is amazing that on the road against the #3 team in the country, the #1 scorer in BYU history had arguably one of his worst gains in his career (granted a lot of this had to do with it very good defensive plan by Gonzaga) and BYU still won. Winder scored only 4 points. Fischer and Collinsworth played well and Halford stepped up as the third scorer. Several other players contributed in various ways. This team has enough options that players that previously we really would have needed to count on can have a bad game and there are others that can step up and shoulder the load. This team has got to be incredibly confident at this point. They are on a roll right now.

I have been going to the conference tournament with family or friends for many years. I have only missed traveling to one tournament in the last 15 years and went to some before that. I'm sure glad I am going this year because I think this team could be a special team. I'm excited to see what they can do. Gonzaga will be incredibly tough but I truly expect we will be playing against Gonzaga for the championship. It will be very difficult to beat that team 2 times in a row but win or lose; I believe that if we make the championship game, we will be playing in the NCAA tournament.

I think BYU will be very dangerous in the tournament. Our playing style will give other teams fits. We are a very difficult offense to prepare for. This is a completely different team than last year. Collinsworth is healthier (though he played in the conference tournament last year, he was playing on a very gimpy knee and likely had a significant partial ACL tear prior to the final injury). Winder is more confident this year. I really feel that another week to recover for Winder will only help him. I expect that he will improve significantly between now and next weekend.

Halford is way more confident and is playing incredibly well. We miss Mika but not as much as we did earlier this year--Kaufusi has really taken up the slack lately. Bartley has become a regular part of the rotation and adds significant athleticism and a defensive presence that we were missing earlier this year. Even Josh Sharp is a better player this year and adds incredible energy. Also, unlike last year, we have multiple big men with fouls to give. They may not be the best scorers but they are learning how to contribute and Rose is learning how to use them.

Buckle up. I think we are going to have an exciting few weeks.