BYU was selected as the favorite to capture its third straight Mountain West Conference title in a vote by the league’s coaches. The Cougars received five first-place votes and collected 36 points to capture the top spot in the poll. Utah was picked to place second with 31 points and one first place vote, followed by San Diego State with 26, UNLV (21), New Mexico (14), Air Force (11) and Wyoming (8). BYU won the 2000 regular-season crown with a perfect 6-0 league record and captured the conference tournament title with a 6-1 victory over Utah. The Cougars compiled a 19-4-1 overall record and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Santa Clara (2-1 in OT). BYU returns 11 letterwinners and six starters in 2001, including All-American Aleisha Cramer, whp was recently called up to the United States national team for the Nike U.S. Cup. The sophomore from Lakewood, Colo. (Green Mountain HS) is also one of 13 college women’s soccer players nominated for the 2001 Hermann Trophy.