When the Utah women advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tourney and took on national power Duke on national television, a lot of people took notice.

The Utes obviously caught the attention of womenscollegehoops.com, one of the country’s most respected women’s basketball resources. In its annual Early Bird Top 50, the Web site has the reigning Mountain West champs as the No. 9 team in the nation, ahead of such perennial powers as Texas Tech, Notre Dame and Louisiana Tech.

The site also speculated, as have many others, that head coach Elaine Elliott may be a hot commodity if the Utes put together another season like last year.

According to the site’s 50 Questions and Answers, “The Utes will be a Top 10 team most of the season and may lose their coach at season’s end.”

For Elliott, who in January became just the 38th coach in Division I women’s history to reach 400 career victories, this kind of attention may be far overdue.

Chris Bellamy