BYU Basketball News: The Cougars are snubbed from preseason rankings
With less than a month until their season tips off, BYU men's basketball finds itself in a familiar position among the preseason polls and rankings heading into its 2nd season in the Big 12. Last week's conference preseason poll and today's preseason AP poll continue the current trend of humble projections for the Cougars, seeing a 9th place mark in the Big 12 poll, and an unranked position (but receiving votes) in the AP top 25.
Big 12 Preseason Poll
- Kansas (9 first-place votes) - 215 points
- Houston (5) - 211
- Iowa State (1) - 194
- Baylor - 185
- Arizona (1) - 179
- Cincinnati - 140
- Texas Tech - 135
- Kansas State - 133
- BYU - 116
- TCU - 90
- UCF - 83
- Arizona State - 64
- West Virginia - 62
- Oklahoma State - 46
- Colorado - 37
- Utah - 30
Luckily, BYU is familiar with not just receiving such low votes, but with succeeding these types of expectations. Last year's men's squad was ranked 13th out of 14 teams before finishing the season 5th in the conference and securing a 6 seed in the tournament. This year's football team was famously picked 13th as well, yet they stand 6-0 atop the conference and are now competing for a spot in the college football playoff.
For BYU fans, this year's preseason conference ranking will seem a bit lower than expected. Coming off an excellent year and an offseason that brought in a great recruiting class and a fantastic hire in new coach Kevin Young, fans in Provo certainly have hopes of a higher finish this season. The rest of the world, however, is waiting on just a bit of proof that all the new pieces, including Coach Young, work out.
Another key factor in BYU's rankings is not the fault of the Cougars, but rather the strength of the rest of the conference. The Big 12 boasts five teams in the top 10 of the AP poll with Kansas, Houston, Iowa State, Baylor, and Arizona. Throw in another ranked team in Cincinnati, as well as two other good teams with great transfer classes in Texas Tech and Kansas State, and BYU's placement starts to make a little more sense.
Still, the Cougars should and will have their sights set much higher. The fact that they're closer to the 6th team in the conference than the team right below them in Big 12 poll points shows that they're right there with everyone else in the conference race.
Another reason for optimism is BYU's number 21 ranking on Kenpom.com. Other computer based ranking systems, Barttorvik.com and Evanmiya.com, both have BYU at a fairly respectable 28. All three of these sites project BYU as 8th in the conference.
Early Opportunities
Kevin Young's first chance to grab some real national attention will be November 29th, as the Cougars have the opportunity to play number 16 Purdue in the championship game of the Rady Children's Invitational. Other early season matchups against Ole Miss (in the invitational) and Providence will also give BYU some chances to prove how good they actually are.
The rest of their schedule remains rather calm until conference play, where each Big 12 team will play every other team at least once, and five teams twice. The five teams BYU will get two chances against are Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Utah, and West Virginia.
Excitement is brewing in Provo. All eyes are on an undefeated football team, while one of the most anticipated basketball seasons in a long time tips off in just a few weeks. They'll hope to follow the football team's footsteps in surpassing the expectations of a new season.
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