BYU Basketball: Cougars will travel to Mississippi State in 2018-19

BYU basketball is building their 2018-19 non-conference schedule, and one more game has been added: the Cougars will travel to Mississippi State in December.

Jon Rothstein is quickly becoming a favorite follow for Cougar fans.

Yesterday, the CBS reporter broke the news that BYU and Houston are finalizing a series that will bring Houston to Provo in 2018-19.

Now, a day later, he’s broken another big scheduling announcement for BYU basketball: the Cougars will travel to Mississippi State this upcoming season as well.

This deal seems closer to completion than the Houston one, given that Rothstein was able to provide the game’s date in his tweet:

Like the Houston matchup, this game will be another non-conference resume builder. Last year, the Bulldogs made it to the NIT Final Four, falling to eventual champion Penn State 75-60.

Mississippi State finished the season 25-12, and just like BYU they had no seniors. They’re expected to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid next year.

Dave Rose stated earlier this month that the Cougars will be more proactive in scheduling top-tier opponents in their non-conference schedule. So far, he seems to be getting the results he was looking for.

Also important are the changes that the WCC made in future scheduling. Starting next season, each team will only play 16 conference games rather than 18. This allows teams like BYU, Gonzaga, and St. Mary’s to schedule two more high-RPI teams to boost their resume.

If the date of this game against the Bulldogs remains where it’s at, it will be in a slot that would have been taken up by one of those two conference games that will no longer happen.

The full non-conference schedule isn’t set, but we do know a handful of the games that BYU should be playing this next season:

• at Mississippi State
• Houston
• vs. Utah (Beehive Classic at Vivint Smarthome Arena)
• Utah State
• at Weber State
• Utah Valley
• at Illinois State

The full schedule, including dates of the games we already know, will likely be released in July.