BYU Basketball: Barring huge upsets, BYU may own a Top 5 seed
By Adam Gibby
In their first three games of the season, the Cougars are yet to allow more than 60 points.
Coming into the season, most everyone knew that BYU Basketball was going to be good. Most bracketologists had them in the tournament as a high seed, but for a non-P5 team, that is a huge accomplishment. What we didn’t know was how good this team would be.
Yes, the season is still young, but this team is looking really good. And the crazy thing is, they haven’t even looked totally in sync yet, or at least on a regular basis. Through three games, the Cougars have outscored their opponents 216-158, an average winning margin of 19.3 points per game.
If these were no name teams that kind of margin would be expected, but when that comes against three teams who made the tournament last year, including the No. 12 team in the nation in Oregon, although early, it is time to start to really believe that BYU could have a high seed come March.
In all likelihood, the Cougars will come in ranked in the mid to high teens this next week in the AP poll, and looking at their future schedule, there isn’t a game until next year that the Cougars won’t be favored to win big in.
Of course this is basketball and crazy things happen, but it isn’t inconceivable that on January 13th, there could be a Top 10 matchup in Spokane between the undefeated Cougs and Bulldogs. Even crazier, a loss there does not likely drop the Cougars more than a spot or two in the rankings because of what they have already done to Oregon and San Diego State.
What BYU Basketball has done is played themselves into the four or five seed in the NCAA Tournament, and barring multiple head scratching losses, they will likely stay in that spot. Basketball is weird that way. It is always tougher to drop a seed line than it is to go up one. Don’t believe me? Just look at what happens at the end of March when a team on the bubble wins game after game but can’t get into the projected field, while another team just outside the bubble loses a few games but doesn’t move at all.
Again, this is season is really young and we don’t know everything. Maybe Oregon will never come together well as a team. Maybe San Diego State is having an off year like Saint Mary’s did last year. But there just aren’t many games on their schedule remaining that look like games BYU won’t win. Utah and Utah State are rivalry games and Creighton and Missouri Southern could be tricky, but none of those will likely be as good as SDSU or Oregon.
Buckle up Cougar fans, this could be a fun one.