I have briefly touched on BYU basketball and the Big 12 separately in my previous blogs, but today, we are going to talk about them together! We are going to dive into the struggles that BYU has had this season, why it looks promising in the future, and how we might just get killed but also have a chance to make the NCAA tournament each year.

Weekly BYU Sports Update

Men’s Sports

• Men’s Tennis: For the second straight week, the men’s team fell 4-3, this time falling to New Mexico at home. The Lobos won the doubles match point on a tiebreaker and then ended up winning the last 3 singles matches. They then took on Utah State on Saturday in Logan and lost 5-2. The Aggies won the doubles match point and won the top 4 singles matches as well. The Cougars return home next week with matches on Friday and Saturday against Weber State. They are currently 1-3 on the season.
• Men’s Basketball: BYU headed to Malibu on Thursday night to take on Pepperdine where they were upset 92-80. The hot-shooting Waves outrebounded BYU 32-28, had a better FT percentage, and more points in the paint all while shooting 57% from the field. Fouss led the Cougars with 19 points. The team came back on Saturday for their last trip to the Kennel against Gonzaga and fell 88-81. BYU played MUCH better compared to Thursday, but foul trouble and a late run by Gonzaga doomed the Cougars. BYU had the lead at halftime by 3 and had the lead by 3 with 3 minutes left but couldn’t hang on to win. Fouss and Johnson led the Cougars with 17 points each. BYU is now sitting 6th in the conference (more on that later) and faces 3rd place Santa Clara at home and 1st place St Mary’s in Moraga, this week, in two huge, huge, huge, games.
• Men’s Track and Field: Josh Taylor tied the all-time school record for the 400 meters with a time of 46.25 at Texas Tech on Friday. Trey Jackson also set a new record for the 400-meter race at #3 all-time. The #21 ranked Cougars then continued on Saturday as the 4×400 meter school record was broken for the first time in 8 years. The team now has the MPSF Indoor championships this weekend.
• Men’s Volleyball: #10 BYU welcomed #14 UCSB to the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday with the Cougars winning in 4 sets. After dropping the first set, The Cougars were led by Anthony Cherfan’s career night in hitting percentage. He bested it by nearly double his previous record. He had 14 kills at a .600 hitting percentage. The two teams then returned the next day, Saturday for game 2, with BYU winning again in 4 sets. Ramanis led the way for BYU with 19 kills. They are now 8-2 on the season and ranked #10. The Cougars will travel to California for two games against UCLA on Friday and Saturday.

Women’s Sports

• Womens Golf: Allysha Mateo posted a 7 under and took 3rd in the FAU Paradise Invitational. BYU overall took 4th out of 14 teams. The women’s team heads to San Diego this week for the Lamkin Invitational.
• Softball: BYU opened their season in Mexico as part of the Puerta Vallarta College Challenge with a doubleheader against North Carolina where they lost 2-0 in a tight pitchers duel but won the second game against Wisconsin 1-0 as Kaysen Korth pitched a complete game shutout. The Cougars came back the next day and fell 10-2 in five innings to Maryland. BYU then had their final game against North Dakota State where they won 10-1 splitting their 4-game opening series in Mexico. BYU heads to Arizona as they face Arizona State this week.
• Women’s Basketball: The women’s team hosted Pepperdine in the Marriott Center on Thursday and lost a heartbreaker, 64-63, in overtime. Lauren Gustin had a career-high 30 points and 16 rebounds but that wasn’t enough to push the Cougars past the Waves. The team then played LMU at home and won 67-42 behind a season-high 21 total assists from the team. Lauren Gustin had 21 points and 16 rebounds. Lauren Gustin now has 409 total points and 411 total rebounds this season, becoming the first player across all divisions of NCAA basketball, men or women, to notch the 400/400 mark this season. The Cougars are 13-12 on the season and sit in 4th in the West Coast Conference at 8-6.
• Women’s Track and Field: On Friday, the women’s team put up 15 personal bests and 4 program top 10 times at two different meets. Taylor Rohattinsky notched a 4:33.79 mile to put herself #5 all-time at BYU. The Cougars then continued on Saturday notching 3 event wins at # 15 Texas Tech. The team will be back in action this week at the MPSF Indoor Championships in Spokane, Washington.
• Women’s Gymnastics: BYU fell to SUU 197.125 to 196.150 after posting several career and season highs. The Cougars had their highest bar and floor scores of the season in the loss. The women’s team will meet Boise State this weekend in Boise.
• Women’s Tennis: The women’s team suffered their first loss of the season 4-3 at home against LMU. The Cougars failed to secure the doubles point for the first time this season. The women then came back on Saturday against Utah State where they dominated to a win, 7-0. The women will now travel to Colorado and play Colorado next weekend.

How I Feel About BYU Basketball

These two GIFs right here tell you exactly how I am feeling about BYU basketball right now. They are killing me, smalls. I have never seen so many losses in one season after leading at one point in the last 5 minutes and we are 6th(!!!) in the WCC. This has been a down year, but we kind of knew that it was going to be, we knew it was going to be a rebuilding year. A bunch of young guys, new transfers, and new recruits. Speaking of recruits, Pope is finally getting HIS guys that he first recruited back from missions. Saunders and Hall are just a couple. People are really attacking Pope this season, but it’s not his fault, he’s building the program. He has built the program to really succeed for the next however many years. Here’s why:

• We only lose Rudi Williams and Gideon George from this year’s team. While those are important contributors and some of our main guys, they are replaceable.
• Braedon Moore, who is redshirting this year, could easily come in and contribute like Gideon George. He’s a freshman this year and when he committed was rated an 89. He probably wasn’t going to see playing time this year.
• Jake Wahlin, who was also rated an 89, is currently serving a mission and will be back for next year’s team. He is a 6’7 PF who likes to attack the rim, has good ballhandling, and can shoot outside, but prefers to be around the rim.
• We also have Collin Chandler, remember him? He is currently serving a mission and won’t come back till the 2024-2025 season, but he is a 4-star recruit with a 97(!!!!) rating. Collin thrives in transition, is athletic, and can finish around the rim really well. He also shoots lights out. Basically, he’s the whole package.
• My last point is that we have Spencer Johnson, Trevin Knell (who is still out with a shoulder injury), and Noah Waterman who are Juniors. Trey Stewart, Jaxson Robinson, Ally Atiki, and Fouss who are Sophomores. Braedon Moore, Richie Saunders, Dallin Hall, and Tanner Toolson who are Freshmen. This mixture of guys who are freshmen and sophomores with some big men via the transfer portal or recruiting plus Wahlin and Chandler in the next couple of years could make for a good, maybe even a great, NCAA tournament-type, team. Now I am not saying we are going to the Sweet 16 or anything, but I expect us to push for making the tournament in the 2024-2025 season or so. Next year will be rough, the Big 12 is wild for basketball, but I think we see an improved team that then makes a push for the tournament in 2024. BYU basketball is looking bright for the future.

Big 12 Basketball

Speaking of the Big 12 and their wild basketball conference, let me show you how many teams of the Big 12 are projected to be in the Big Dance.

This is from ESPN’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi. If you look at the second page here, this is a breakdown by conference. There are 8 teams expected to be in with 1 on the bubble for the Big 12. The Big 12 has 10 members. Just let that sink in, there’s only 1 team that isn’t projected to be close to the Big Dance, and that is Texas Tech.

If BYU can play even close to what Oklahoma is doing right now, which is 12-13 overall and 2-10 in the Big 12, we could be on the bubble for March Madness. Take even West Virginia which is 15-10 overall and second to last in the Big 12 at 4-8, and they are a projected 9 seed. BYU has a shot to make the NCAA tournament a lot more if we can play even DECENT basketball because they are ALWAYS opportunities for big wins in the conference. It is going to be a very fun conference for BYU basketball.

In other Big 12 news, Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big 12 one year early, officially. Here was the announcement from the Big 12. Texas and Oklahoma will be in the conference for the 2023 seasons and then leave for the 2024 seasons. You can also view the full statement here. Texas and Oklahoma will also have to pay $100 million in payout fees to the Big 12.

College Basketball News

In other college basketball news, 5 of the top 12 teams in college basketball lost to unranked teams over the weekend. #6 Tennessee lost at home to Missouri, #11 Iowa St lost at home to Oklahoma St, #12 Kansas St lost on the road to Texas Tech, #1 Purdue lost on the road to Northwestern, and #4 Arizona lost on the road to Stanford. College Basketball is heating up! Only 4 weeks till Selection Sunday!

Also, here is an AMAZING last-second shot by Portland State. A complete baseball throw across the whole court to a guy who jumps up and catches it in mid-air and banks it in from the side for the win. Also, the commentator is great.

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