Tier Four: The sports that don’t have an argument
Men’s Soccer, Men’s/Women’s Rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, Men’s/Women’s Hockey, Men’s/Women’s Lacrosse, Wrestling and other extramural sports
These are all sports that, although they may have success, are not NCAA sanctioned, therefore they don’t get a lot of publicity. The Men’s Rugby team was almost good enough to get out of this list a few years ago, but then rule violations hurt the program and they’re now advertising “no experience needed” tryouts.
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
The last time that Men’s or Women’s Tennis was good was well… never. Every year, the Cougars do alright but never excel. 2002 was the last time a male was named All-American and the women last had one in 2004. The highest ranked finish for either of these teams was a second round loss in the NCAA tournament in 2007 for the women’s team.
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
Swimming, similar to the Tennis teams, has not had a lot of success in the past. There have been a few more All-Americans, particularly on the men’s team, with the most recent coming from Payton Sorenson in 2016. The women’s most recent swimmer to be named All-American was 2007. But hey, they did just get a brand new pool, so things may change.
Women’s Golf
Women’s Golf has had a few good individual performances, including a 21st individual finish by Rose Huang this past year. The team has won three straight WCC championships, but before that they hadn’t had a championship since 1991. This program is on the rise and could find itself in Tier Three in the near future, but for now it still has no argument to be considered a sport that BYU is known for.
Women’s Basketball
Unfortunately for the Women’s Basketball team, they just haven’t had a lot of success. The farthest that the Cougars have ever made it in postseason play is the Sweet Sixteen (twice), with the most recent being in 2014.
The team has had more success in recent years, going to the NCAA Tournament four times in the last ten years, but most of those were first round exits. They’re close to Tier Three but still need a few more years of success to get there.