After two straight losses and losing three of their last four games, optimism is starting to dwindle surrounding BYU basketball. Don't get me wrong, everyone still understands what this team is capable of. They nearly climbed back to take down UConn, Arizona, and Kansas in three immaculate comeback efforts. But 'nearly' doesn't put W's on the schedule, and when it comes to the best teams in the nation, BYU still has yet to post a statement victory.
The Cougars are 4-4 in Quad 1 games to this point in the year, and with just four weeks separating us from March (dum, dum, dummmm), BYU has wins against Villanova, Wisconsin, Miami, and Clemson, but hasn't breached the upper echelon of the sport, dropping to the teams mentioned above and at the hands of Texas Tech, the current 20th NET-ranked team.
On the road in Stillwater, the Cougars have a chance to make a statement Quad 1 win against a feisty and deep Oklahoma State squad.
The Cowboys, much like their adversaries in this contest, have four Quad 1 losses on the season, as they've fallen to Texas Tech, Iowa State (twice), and TCU to this point in the year. Unlike the Cougars, though, OK State has yet to win a game of that caliber. They're 0-4 against Q1 competition, and here comes AJ Dybantsa, Rob Wright, Richie Saunders, and a BYU team starving for a win after going 0-2 to Arizona and Kansas last week.
Oklahoma State, 15-6 on the year, have stumbled out of the gate in the Big 12 Conference despite a very strong start in the non-conference. Before the Big 12 slate tipped off, the Cowboys had dropped just one game in a nine-point rivalry game against in-state rival Oklahoma. OK State's best result to this point in the year has been a 24-point drubbing against Texas A&M, a game just bordering outside the Quad 1 designation.
BYU's opposition is fresh off a double-digit win against Utah in an empty Huntsman Center, and let's put it frankly, the Cowboys can smell blood in the water as the Cougars hop into the pool.
Slipping to 16th in the AP poll has been an unfortunate and unexpected wrinkle in Kevin Young's road map. Dybantsa was entirely outplayed by fellow top-pick candidate Darryn Peterson in Lawrence, the Cougars' offense has failed to lift off the runway in the first half of each of their last four games, and the three-headed dragon of Dybantsa, Wright, and Saunders has been partially neutralized by the brightest minds in the Big 12 Conference.
Against the Cowboys, BYU hoops has plenty to prove to a nation suddenly doubting the Cougars' validity as a contender for the Final Four this spring.
Expect the Cougars -- specifically AJ Dybantsa -- to unleash their pent-up fury in Oklahoma this week.