Utah is now ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press poll, the first time they've been among the elite since the final poll of the 2006 season. If the Utes continue this pace, they will run away with the MWC with a top four seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament seeming inevitable. That's heady stuff for a team that went 19-12 last year, but truthfully struggled in the season following an appearance in the Elite 8. But this is a different group from last season's, not so much in personnel, but in attitude. "Everyone accepts their role this year," said Elliott, who celebrated 25 years of coaching the team before the game against Colorado State. "That makes a huge difference. We lost pro-caliber players off the final eight team. The seniors on that team took us and gave us a direction that we lacked last season. We lost a lot of talent and a lot of direction." Whatever they lacked a season ago, they have times two on this roster. Much of what Utah has become falls at the feet of Leilani Mitchell, a senior point guard who transferred from Idaho and is nothing short of an All-America candidate.

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