BYU Basketball: Cougars need to find a Multi-Team Event for 2018-19

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ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 22: Wenyen Gabriel #32 of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts with teammates in the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Potential Landing Spots in 2018-19

As mentioned before, there are only two slots open in currently announced events for 2018-19. Neither one works for BYU.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other events in the works. Last year there were 44 events, this year there’s only 31 so far. That number is guaranteed to rise.

Why? Because there are still some high-profile teams that don’t have a slot in any current event yet.

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Among the teams that are still up in the air on a 2018-19 MTE are:

Kentucky
Arkansas
Vanderbilt
Pittsburgh
North Carolina State
Georgia Tech
DePaul
Indiana
Maryland
Ohio State
Rutgers
Colorado State
New Mexico
Saint Louis
East Carolina

That’s a lot of teams that don’t want to lose out on those extra games, which means other events are almost certainly in the works.

That leaves the Cougars with two options. First, they could negotiate to join an event that’s being held by another team or entity.

Second, they could host their own MTE.

BYU has done it twice since the rule changes in 2006. The first time was that first season in 2006-07. The Cougars hosted the BYU Holiday Classic, bringing in Seton Hall, Liberty, and Oral Roberts for a three-day, three-game showcase.

The second came in 2008-09, when BYU brought in Rice, North Florida, and Cal Poly for the Basketball Travelers Invitational. The format was the same as the BYU Holiday Classic, giving all the teams involved three games.

There’s actually good reason to think this may be in the works for 2018-19 as well. Right now, the Cougars have 10 non-conference games reportedly scheduled, and only three of those games are at home (Houston, Utah State, Utah Valley).

If the Cougars don’t play in an MTE, they only have three more games they could schedule, and even if all three are home games, it creates a pretty paltry non-conference home slate for fans.

If the Cougars play in an MTE away from the Marriott Center, they could only have up to three more home games as well. One would be a regularly scheduled game, and the other two would be undercard games as a part of the event.

However, if the Cougars find a way to host an event, they could host up to five more games at the Marriott Center – one regularly scheduled game and up to four as a part of the MTE.

That’s the only way that the Cougars could get as many or more home games than away/neutral ones for their non-conference schedule.

All of this is speculation of course, but a very real possibility. If BYU can find a way to host an MTE and bring in one or two high-RPI teams, it could cap off an impressive non-conference slate.

But whether at home or away, the Cougars need to find an MTE to maximize their tournament resume.

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