The men’s basketball team is on a roll. They’ve won seven straight games, four of which were on the road. Two of the home wins were against then-ranked teams. Gonzaga lost at home, so we’re in and out of tying Air Force for the nations longest home win streak. Also for the first time in 14 years, BYU is ranked in the top 25. In the AP poll, the Cougs jumped up 7 spots to #21, and in the Coaches, 8 spots to #22.

There is also a bunch of other recognition being thrown our way. Joe Lunardi at ESPN.com Bracketology predicts us as a #6 seed for the NCAA Tournament. USA Today projects us as a #4, #4! Most places have us somewhere between a “probably in” and “definitely in” status.

So all of this is a little surprising to even me. A seven game win streak helps, I guess. I’m probably still a little guarded, because we have two really tough games ahead. After a Wednesday CSU meeting, BYU goes on the road to San Diego State and Air Force. SDSU has beat UNLV and Air Force at home also, and well Air Force at home, as by the numbers, is as good as BYU is at home. If we could find a way to at least split that trip, that’s going to help us big time. With Air Force losing to UNLV, the Cougs are a game and a half ahead of Air Force. We can still give one loss and win an outright championship. If we sweep the trip, then win the MWC tourney, I can definitely see us as a #4 seed.

The Cougs are playing well enough to have that possibility opened. Keena Young has been established as the go-to guy. If the opponents guard him one-on-one, he’s nearly unstoppable. If they double team, he either goes to Plaisted, who does well against one-on-one coverage, or it gets kicked out to the perimeter, passed around until an open guy is found. During our win streak we’ve shot 50% or better every single game. BYU is shooting this well because of passing up OK shots for great ones. So I love our game plan, and it’s solid and established. Young usually scores in the 20s, but the two games in our win streak that he has been held to double digits (at New Mexico and home to UNLV), BYU has won by more than 20 points. Ainge is running our offense really well, he can shoot the three but usually makes really good passes to set others up, Lee Cummard has stats in every category most nights. Our bench play is really helping. Mike Rose has the touch back that he lost for last two seasons. Jonathan Tavernari is going to be an awesome player and he contributes a lot of good things. Ben Murdock can come in at point and give Ainge a breather without us suffering horrendous drop-off. Vuk Ivanovic and Gavin MacGregor help out when Plaisted is in foul trouble, which used to kill us, but doesn’t anymore (most of that is the emergence of Keena Young as an awesome player).

Anyway, though I’m surprised that we’re getting so much attention, I’m excited about our chances. Last year when we lost in the NIT, I predicted that we’d be a Sweet Sixteen team with an outside chance of passing the “most NCAA tourney bids without a Final Four appearance” monkey onto someone else’s back. Earlier this season that looked like quite the far-fetched statement, but I believe it again. This postseason could be special.