BYU has done it again. They have surpassed expectations and stunned the country. The Cougars finished fourth in the Big 12 Conference. The Cougars outperformed the University of Utah, who finished eleventh in the conference.
BYU had a rough start to conference play but got it together as the season went on. The Cougars ended the regular season with an eight-game winning streak, which they extended to nine with a win against Iowa State in the Big 12 Conference Tournament. BYU and Utah split the regular season series, but BYU looked better.
BYU finished with a record of 14-6 while Utah finished 8-12. Last season Utah finished 9-11 in the last year of the PAC-12 while BYU finished 12-8. The Cougars did better in year one of the Big 12 than Utah did in the final year of the PAC-12.
BYU has found recent success in a power conference. The Cougars in their last two seasons are a combined 22-16 (.579). BYU has a winning formula and the addition of AJ Dybansta, BYU could be a big force in coming years. Utah doesn't have the firepower to compete with the Cougars. BYU has shown the blueprint of how to transition from a non-power conference to a power conference.
Utah found little success in the PAC-12 and those struggles have continued into the Big 12. Utah needs to make some real moves to be able to compete in the physical Big 12. This is the best conference in basketball and it takes a lot to compete in this league. Utah should take BYU's NBA model and implement it. The Ute's hiring of Alex Jensen should give the Utes a chance to compete next year.
Overall, BYU is ahead of Utah in power conference success. Utah does have some hope for next year but for now, the Cougars are the better team. The state of Utah is full of successful college basketball teams and it will be exciting to see what happens next year.