According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, Kevin Young's BYU basketball squad should be a top-eight squad come the NCAA Tournament in March. That's right. Before a single game has been played, hoops experts have elevated BYU basketball among the very elite of the sport.
Does this sound like hyperbole? Does my disembodied voice on the internet sound like its become entirely untethered from reality? Am I George Clooney gently floating off into the deathly void as I accept the frozen embrace of outer space? Heartless, yet comforting. Isolated and hopeless, yet completely in accordance with my place in the universe.
... Sounds like my train of thought is the main thing that's gotten derailed.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi (praise be to the ancient one) has revealed his latest bracketology. A glimpse into the crystal ball for the most exciting portion of any sporting calendar -- March Madness -- and predicting the standing of the basketball world's 68 remaining competitors for the crown. Not the Basketball Crown, I guess. That means something entirely different now (shoutout, Utes). I mean the title of the greatest in the world. National Champions.
AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders, Rob Wright, and the remainder of the Cougars' stacked roster have collected a preseason designation of a 2 seed. That's higher than Jimmer Fredette and the legendary 2010-11 Cougs. That's infinitely stronger than the countless 6 seeds we've seen in the space between.
This feels so surreal to me. pic.twitter.com/3c7wNjTAxn
— Lawless Republic (@LawlessRepublic) August 3, 2025
For BYU basketball, a program that has never so much as set foot upon the hallowed ground of the Final Four, let alone the championship game,
But the construction and hype surrounding this squad is unlike anything ever conceived on the grounds of Brigham Young University's Provo campus. A unit so talented that finding minutes for the ballers stuffing the depth chart is a task I do not envy.
Undeniably, this team has the chops to reach the mountaintop. The best player in basketball is donning royal blue this season. Richie Saunders is a preseason All-American candidate. Rob Wright is an elite point guard who dictates the tone and pace of the offense. Keba Keita is Zion Williamson plus three inches minus ball-handling ability. Shooters upon shooters fill the barracks of this basketball program.
But these preseason predictions are just that: predictions. A simple, educated estimate of how we expect a team to perform based on their hypothetical appeal. Until the first tip-off, this is all we have, and it is far from a sure thing.
But this is the ceiling. This is the goal. This is BYU basketball in 2025-26.