By Stewart Mandel, CNN/SI

BYU quarterback Kevin Feterik has been a solid player for the last three years. Tom Hauck/Allsport   Projected Order of Finish 1. BYU 2. San Diego State 3. Air Force 4. Utah 5. Colorado State 6. Wyoming 7. UNLV 8. New Mexico

Top Storylines New conference, same favorite The conference's inaugural season promises to be a competitive one, with BYU, Air Force and San Diego State all claiming legitimate shots at the title. While many of the old WAC's run-and-gun elements remain, BYU looks to win with defense. And at UNLV, the venerable John Robinson looks to forget that annoying USC war chant and get Las Vegas hooked on something besides keno.

Going Bowling Locks: BYU Maybes: San Diego State, Air Force, Utah, Colorado State, Wyoming No Way: UNLV, New Mexico

Trev's Take CNN/SI's Trev Alberts offers his team to watch "I really like BYU. It used to be the Cougars put all their best athletes on offense and tried to outscore everybody. But now it seems like their defense is catching up a little bit to their offense. Rob Morris is the preseason defensive player of the year. Throw in Kevin Feterik, a three-year starter, at quarterback and some good receivers, and they have a chance to get some pretty decent wins before going into conference play."

Top Five Offensive Players Kevin Feterik , QB, Sr., BYU In a conference devoid of offensive superstars, this one's a choice by default. Feterik is a smooth, solid three-year starter, but won't draw any comparisons to the Ty Detmers of Cougars past. Mike Anderson , RB, Sr., Utah The last Ute to run for anything close to Anderson's 1,173 yards last season was Mr. Dirty Bird himself, Jamal Anderson. Wendell Montgomery , WR, Sr., Wyoming Coming off a 789-yard season, he would have been the leading returning receiver in a unified WAC, but he scored no touchdowns in '98. Kevin McDougal , RB, Sr., Colorado State A shoulder injury limited him in '98 and kept him out of spring practice, but back when he was coming off a 1,111-yard 1997 performance, McDougal and former sidekick Damon Washington helped make the Rams a preseason Top 25 choice. Cale "Government" Bonds , QB, Sr., Air Force Performed admirably against Navy when he replaced the injured Blane Morgan (9-for-13, 194 yards, 2 TDs; 167 rushing yards; 2 TDs).

Top Five Defensive Players Rob Morris , DE, Sr., BYU The reigning WAC defensive player of the year has NFL stardom written all over him. Last year, his 147 tackles included 16 for loss, in addition to six sacks. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila , DE, Sr., San Diego State As one of the country's better pass rushers, he enters '99 working off 21 career sacks. Kautai Olevao , LB, Jr., Utah Twelve months removed from a two-year mission to Argentina, Olevao's only mission these days is to fully recover from a nasty knee-cap injury. Robbie Duncan , CB, Sr., Wyoming Considered the conference's top cover man at his position, Duncan enters his fourth year as a starter in the secondary. Shawn Thomas , DT, Sr., Air Force The 265-pound monster comes off an eight-sack campaign and will be expected to produce even more with Air Force's inexperienced 'D.'

Top Special Teams Player Damon Gourdine, PR/KR, Sr., San Diego State The Aztecs' mutli-purpose threat didn't let his 5-foot-7 frame keep him from hauling in 16 punt returns at a whopping 18.4 average, second only to Kansas State's David Allen nationally. He also returned two for touchdowns.

You Don't Know Him Yet, but... Jeremi Rudolph, RB, Jr., UNLV Robinson's arrival at UNLV paid immediate dividends in the form of his first recruiting class, highlighted by JUCO transfer Rudolph. A former academic non-qualifier when he signed with Florida State out of high school, Rudolph arrived early enough to participate in spring drills and easily won the starting tailback job.

Hot Coach LaVell Edwards, BYU Note that whatever climate description you want to attribute to Edwards' situation in Provo has been in place for 27 years. After a quarter-century of out-gunslinging not only the WAC but much of the national elite, Edwards enters his latest era with the confidence that comes from having talent on both sides of the ball.

Coach on the Hot Seat Rocky Long, New Mexico As if coming off a 3-9 debut season isn't hard enough, Long must now replace two-time all-league QB Graham Leigh.

Toughest Schedule BYU Edwards has never been one to shy from the big boys, especially in their backyard, and this year the Cougars welcome Washington, Virginia and Cal.

Kansas State Schedule UNLV Not that the Rebels have to worry about BCS contention, but North Texas and Big 12 cellar-dwellers Baylor and Iowa State aren't even an adequate tune-up for the MWC.

Mark Your Calendar Colorado State vs. Colorado, Sept. 4 Last year's first Mile High experiment drew 76,036 fans and a Broncos-like atmosphere. UNLV at Nevada, Oct. 2 Between Robinson and stud Wolf Pack QB David Neill, in-staters have no reason not to catch pigskin fever. Air Force at BYU, Oct. 30 New conference, same rivalry.