To the Pacific Tigers of the West Coast Conference: this BYU basketball team looks nothing like the one that you faced as an in-conference foe a few years ago. The head coach is different, the patch on the uniforms is different, the faces, highlights, playmakers, and shot takers are all vastly different than what you grew accustomed to as a WCC rival. Except for Richie Saunders. He's still here.
Kevin Young's squad, standing with a 9-1 record and a lone 2-point loss against Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies, is in the home stretch of the non-conference schedule. Pay no mind to the approaching Christmas holiday; there are hoops left to play before the Big 12 slate fires off at the dawn of the coming year.
First on the list: the Pacific Tigers. A team most recently coming off a 54-point win against NAIA Simpson University, and carrying three losses to their name, this WCC representative approaches the Provo, Utah campus of Brigham Young University with one simple goal in mind: topple the giants. Make them regret ever leaving for the Big 12 and show these paper mountain lions where real basketball is played in college hoops.
In reality, however, this will probably be a very long night for the Tigers. Pacific is 3-15 all-time against the Cougars, but there may have never been a matchup quite as lopsided as the one teeing up on Tuesday night.
Led by top-three projected NBA Draft hopeful AJ Dybantsa, veteran and professional glue-guy Richie Saunders, and the swirling tornado that is Rob Wright III, BYU basketball has unearthed a new identity for themselves in the eyes of the public. No longer the world's best churchball team, this bunch aspires to reach the Final Four and bring home a championship trophy -- and they've got the gadgets necessary to pull off this mission without a hitch.
Kevin Young has installed an NBA foundation, complete with elite nutritionists, facilities, training staff, and industry knowledge so tantalizing and so expertly crafted that the very best prospects in the nation are considering a year-long stay in Provo before making the leap to the NBA Draft.
So, to a Pacific team that was projected to finish third-to-last in the West Coast Conference this season, this game marks a serious measuring stick to see if you can keep pace with the likes of Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and even San Francisco. Keep it close, and you'll have great reps through the full 40 minute game span. Fall behind early, and it could be a long flight home.
This is not a West Coast Conference game. The Tigers are staring down the barrel of the nation's strongest basketball league, and it's BYU on the trigger.