The pecking order of a state's universities

We are out here in California where USC in football and UCLA in basketball obviously rules their respective roosts. The Golden State boasts umpteen number of colleges and universities but it is the PAC-10 that is conclusively the top conference, having four members with California addresses.

But we are unfamiliar with how such a ranking works in Utah.

Our sense is that Weber State comes in at #4 with its membership in the Big Sky Conference. It seems that most would agree with this ranking.

We'll venture that Utah State overall resides in the third slot. However, this is disputable with the sport we are most familiar with -- men's basketball. Stew Morrill's Aggies are very, very close in national stature if not the equal of Brigham Young and Utah in this regard. But again our sense is that Utah's prep basketballers don't see it this way -- that BYU and Utah are almost always 'preferred' destinations over the Aggies.

Granted, we have no studies to quantify our determinations but our memory of recruiting histories causes us believe this.

We're unsure if Utah or BYU owns the top college spot in the Beehive State -- however, we 'feel' it is probably Brigham Young as the most favored college choice of in-state prep athletes and also out-of-state LDS member baseballers, footballers and basketballers.

If we are correct in this analysis, why is this? Does Mountain West membership hold greater sway than being a WAC school? Is it due to BYU being considered a 'mothership' for LDS-ers? Is it respective coaching staffs having a greater allure?