He said most of the credit should go to his team.

"I'm not looking at it as being about myself or being a star, people can hype me up all they want, but it is a team game," Francisco said. "I'm only good because of the opportunities I have from the other people playing on the field."

Francisco, 6 feet 2 and 206 pounds, plays a specialized position called "Cougarback," which allows him to roam the field.

"They think I get to do whatever I want, but I have responsibilities like everyone else," he said. "Our defense funnels everything to the middle, where I am, that's why I don't want to take the credit for everything."

Francisco led the Cougars and was ranked third in the conference with an average of 9.7 tackles last season, when he was named first team all-MWC.

But the honors won't distract Francisco from his goal this season: to return to a bowl game.

"The first thing I'm looking forward to is winning, we haven't done much of that the past two seasons," he said. "We haven't been to a bowl game, so I just want to get back to that point."

BYU was picked to finish in a tie for fifth place by conference coaches, after two disappointing seasons when it went a combined 9-16.

"I got to pretty much experience everything my freshman year, with the bowl games and stuff, but I haven't been to one since," Francisco said of the 2001 season, when BYU went 12-2 with Francisco playing in all 14 games as a true freshman.

"It's kind of different, I wasn't used to it out of high school, I was so used to winning championships in high school," said Francisco, who helped lead Kahuku to the state championship in 2000.

He said it is also too early to be thinking about the NFL.

"For me, personally, I don't even want to think about it too much, I don't want to look too far ahead," Francisco said. "Fans will be fans and media will be media, and they will always look ahead and speculate."

Chris Kemoeatu

Utah is picked to finish first in conference play.

More Football

• Family members Marc Esteban, Keoni Esteban and Wally Coleman are headed to the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Marc Esteban (Kaiser '02) will play wide receiver, while his nephews Keoni Esteban (Kaiser '04) and Coleman (Moanalua '04) will be defensive backs.

Women's Swimming

Ashley Swart

Swart earned a 3.58 grade point average in education.

Baseball

• 'Aiea High graduates Kepa Wong and Dylan Libadisos, both Advertiser All-State first-team selections, received academic scholarships from Friends of 'Aiea Baseball.

Wong will be playing at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif., and Libadisos at Highland Community College in Kansas.

'Aiea teammate Jordan Shibata, who is going to Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, received honorable mention recognition.