HENDERSON, Nev. — Bronco Mendenhall knows the white “Y” on his team’s helmet is more than just a symbol to represent the school.

It’s a bullseye.

Even though BYU was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll by the league’s media, he said he clearly feels the crosshairs lining up on the Cougars.

“We think we’ll be a marked team,” Mendenhall said Monday during the MWC media meetings at the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Casino. “Last year we adopted a fairly simple strategy: What we can control is our performance, our will, our execution and our competitive spirit. We won’t acknowledge our opponent except in preparing for scheme and strategy. We simply won’t acknowledge perimeter influences.”

“Others might target us, but our focus is only about what we can do each and every week to move the team forward.”

BYU rolled through the MWC last season undefeated and capped off the year with a last-second victory over Utah and a total domination of Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Cougars were also undefeated at home (6-0) and had the highest home victory margin (35 points per game) in the country.

BYU received 178 total points and three first-place votes in this year’s MWC media poll. TCU, which was also picked to win the title in 2006, received 202 total points and 18 of the 23 first-place vote cast by the MWC media in 2007.

“We’re excited about being picked at the top spot,” said TCU head coach Gary Patterson. “But it’s not what you have to say in August but what you have to say in December. We’ve already been in this position before. We had a great spring and summer and I challenged the guys to learn to deal with success. We’ve won 10 games in three of the past four years.”

Mendenhall said he didn’t think his players would be motivated by the second-place prediction.

“I don’t acknowledge it (the poll), nor do I have a feeling either way,” he said. “It’s something for everyone to talk about for a day and a half here at the meetings. It doesn’t matter to me, nor does it provide more motivation for my players. I don’t think it’s ever been right.

“All that matters for me and our team is what we think we’re capable of: Defending our championship and reaching the standards we’re striving for.”

Utah was picked third and earned two first-place votes. The Utes were followed by New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force, San Diego State and UNLV.

So where do the Cougars go from their 11-2 finish in 2006?

“We finished the season ranked 15th,” Mendenhall said. “There’s 14 spots in front of us we can reach. I’m not of the opinion we can’t climb to those spots. At the end last season the players said that we needed to raise our goals.

“Some say that sets us up to be a target, but I believe we’re ready to defend the title. The players are carrying themselves like they’re expecting to win and it will be a great test of the maturity level of our program.”

Four Cougars were named to the All-MWC preseason team: offensive linemen Sete Aulai and Dallas Reynolds, linebacker Bryan Kehl and safety Quinn Gooch. TCU had seven players on the All-MWC team, including Offensive Player of the Year Aaron Brown (running back) and Defensive Player of the Year Tommy Blake (lineman).

Utah had four players — offensive linemen Jason Boone and Robert Conley, quarterback Brian Johnson and Special Team Player of the Year, kicker Louie Sakoda — on the All-MWC team.

∫ Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Read his blog at blogs.heraldextra.com/Darnell.