It’s time for the men to pick it up for BYU athletics

BYU athletics had an up and down season, but the men’s sports struggled the most. With national perception hanging in the balance, it’s time for the men to pick it up.

The 2017-18 sports year is over for BYU athletics.

It was an up and down season. On the bright side:

• Both BYU volleyball teams played well, with Top 10 finishes.
• Track & Field and Cross Country performed well, both the men and women.
• Softball won another conference title.
• Both golf teams qualified for nationals.
• Gymnastics had their best finish (No. 19) in years.

On the not-so-bright side:

• Football suffered their first losing season in more than a decade.
• Women’s Soccer suffered their first losing season in more than a decade.
• Baseball was picked to win the West Coast Conference, but finished last.
• Men’s Basketball met (didn’t exceed) national expectations, but couldn’t make a return to the NCAA Tournament.
• Women’s Basketball barely finished above .500 and failed to even earn an NIT spot.

All in all, the Cougars finished at No. 45 in the final Learfield Director’s Cup standings. It’s their worst finish in the last four years, although that 45th place finish shows that the BYU athletic program is still one of the premier programs in the country.

Plus, the Cougars finished above Utah…and Boise State…and Utah State…and Gonzaga…and St. Mary’s…and pretty much every other rival or nearby program.

But if you look back up that the ups and the downs, you’ll notice one startling trend.

For the most part, the ups came from the women and the downs came from the men.

BYU sponsors 9 men’s sports and 10 women’s sports. 12 Cougar teams finished high enough to earn Director’s Cup points – 7 women’s teams and 5 men’s teams.

Doing the math, that means that 70% of the women’s teams finished well, compared to only 55% of the men.

And for only the second time since the Cougars joined the West Coast Conference, the men failed to win their side of the Commissioner’s Cup.

All About Perception

It’s awesome that the women’s programs are excelling. The fact that they’ve dominated the women’s side of the Commissioner’s Cup since joining the WCC is a testament to the athletes, coaches, and the program as a whole.

When it comes to national perception though, men’s sports rule the roost. That may not be right, but it’s fact.

People pay attention to football. They pay attention to Men’s Basketball more than Women’s Basketball. They pay more attention to baseball than softball.

The national media took notice when the football team struggled to a 4-9 season. It was big news.

Yet the Women’s Soccer team, a perennial Top 25 program, struggled through a losing season, but that same media barely batted an eye.

Right now, BYU is in a perception battle. They’re stuck in no-man’s land, outside of a Power Five conference, yet still considered a quality program that’s on par with the major conferences.

Within the next half decade or so, there’s a very good chance that the conference landscape will have another major shift, and this one could be much more permanent.

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• BYU Football needs to fix issues before Notre Dame
• BYU Football: Why fans shouldn’t be so worried about USF
• How to watch BYU Cougars football in 2022

If BYU loses the perception battle over the next few years, their chance to put themselves on the positive side of any shifts is all but gone. They could be left on the outside looking in for a long time.

Maybe for good.

This isn’t a call for specific changes. That’s for the athletic department and the coaches to figure out. It’s their job, and they’re much more qualified to do it.

But it is a clarion call to the men.

Guys, the women are beating you right now, and it’s not even close.

It’s time to pick it up. It’s time to win, and win big.

The future of BYU sports may depend on it.