From the moment Kevin Young's BYU basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season, a silent, yet present, chime reverberated between every onlooker's ears. You heard it. I heard it. It was unmistakable, like a metal bowl had fallen from the top shelf and met a harsh interruption during its dance with gravity.
A low pitch, yet piercingly fierce sound bordered on violence for a BYU squad that has experts rethinking whether a team led by Egor Demin, Richie Saunders, Kanon Catchings, and more holds any merit in the post-season conversation.
Anyone with a pulse understands that missing out on the NCAA tournament is a scalding disappointment for a power program like the Cougars, so standing 10-4 overall and 1-2 in conference, the powers that be are a few poor results from damning this program to the depths of an NIT appearance, if they're lucky.
Kevin Young is only halfway through his green bean season in Provo, and now joins his roster in gazing into their own mortality.
Hard to imagine BYU could be any more sobered.
But why is this the turning point? Why is this moment, of the countless heap still facing this program, so pertinent to the fate of this team? Simply put, the next five games on the schedule are not only winnable but actually favorable.
Collectively standing at 2-13 in conference play, this rowdy bunch of five populates the majority of the Big 12 basement, with only Kansas State interrupting what would be a perfect 5-for-5 slip-n-slide to the back of the pack.
Cosmo's residence received an urgent package from the Big 12, and the jar of snakes within sprang with the likes of TCU, Oklahoma State, Utah, Colorado, and Cincinnati. A mess? Not really, these plastic-sealed pranks are relatively painless to clean. You should try 64-card pickup if you'd like a real challenge.
Stalling at this intersection is not an option, as this incoming bundle could spit the Cougars free with a 6-2 in-conference record, if Kevin Young has his team playing foundational basketball. Build from this point in the season.
This conference offers no sure-thing victories, so this slate is about as comfortable as the Cougars could get before having to square off against the likes of Kansas, Iowa State, Baylor, and the remaining giants that meander across the Texan landscape (absent of saguaros, for those following along).
Still don't believe? You might have trust issues. Therapy is a wonderful experience, I hear.
My point is simple (though I still insist on running up the word count, and I apologize for that): if this team can win these comparatively weaker matchups, losses to stronger programs won't damage BYU's tournament resume--they can still punch their dance card, even though the Jayhawks decided to go with the hotter cheerleaders. High school is the worst.
Will this year's BYU basketball team play in March Madness?
— Lawless Republic (@LawlessRepublic) January 7, 2025
The season is far from over for this litter, but a tournament run begins by winning the "easy" matchups first. Kevin Young's team now faces that prospect.