Please underestimate the next season of BYU basketball

BYU basketball has a half a new roster, a new assistant coach, and no seniors. The high school-trio-that-shall-not-be-named has been broken up forever. Nobody is giving this team a shot. And that’s exactly how it should be.

Let’s get down to brass tax. BYU basketball won’t be on Joe Lunardi’s radar in 2017-18.

I know this comes as a thought shift as the number of days until football’s kickoff against Portland State approaches palatable numbers.

But with the recent finalization of their out of conference schedule and officially posting their roster, the Cougars have taken a moment to leap to the forefront of mind. But will they also leap into the Big Dance come March 2018?

Here is my petition to all of you:

Say no.

No way. Not a chance. Snowball in a firestorm. Leaf in a hurricane. Larry Krystkowiak on a polygraph asked the real reason why he canceled the game.

And you even have plenty of firepower to back this up. You can’t walk three steps without tripping over a reason that the 2017-18 Cougars will fail. Why BYU basketball won’t make the NCAA tourney, or win the conference, or make 20 wins.

Not after losing Erik Mika’s 20 and nine. Not without a four-year scholarship player, with only one proven post player, and following a season typified by inconsistency and limp-noodle defense. And definitely not after that shellacking courtesy of UT Arlington in a season-ending whimper.

Of course, you’ll have to disregard some things.

Foremost being that Dave Rose wins games. That he’ll pass HOFer Stan Watts as BYU basketball’s winningest coach in the next few seasons, and that his expectations never change.

Also ignore the sleeping giant that could be a fit Payton Dastrup, and the leap a year-acclimated TJ Haws could make, and the monster that Yoeli Child’s has the potential to become. Also, Zac Seljaas’ 50 percent 3-point shooting? Not to be mentioned.

It’s time to stow those things. Instead, underestimate the Cougars as much as possible, as publicly as you can.

What to do:

Make with the cynical tweets. Line up the “rebuilding year” prediction posts. Doubt and hedge and waffle all preseason long (you know, between Tanner Mangum touchdowns) and show plainly that you expect absolutely nothing from BYU basketball this coming season.

That will fuel the fire nicely.

Say, just incidentally: how’s this for a season-summing headline for 2018?

BYU Basketball: The Return of the Run and Gun.