With all the preseason hype, if someone had told me that the BYU men's basketball team was going to get the 10 seed in the Big 12 tournament and that they would be eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament, I would be very disappointed.
The loss to Texas hurt a lot, especially after I argued in a previous article that they shouldn't have been in the tournament (not that my mind has been changed. They were 18-14). But looking back, this season was not a complete failure. BYU got a lot of really nice wins, both in men's and women's basketball.
So I thought I'd cheer Cougar fans up by making a list of BYU's top 15 most satisfying wins this season. (I thought about waiting till the women's season is over, but I think some of us need this pick-me-up now and not after BYU wins the WBIT.)
15. Men's basketball 71-66 vs. Villanova, November 3rd:
What better way to start this list than with a season-opening win against a team with two national championships in the last decade? Yes, the Wildcats were coming off a season where they finished in the middle of the pack in the Big East and had not made the NCAA tournament, and I honestly expected BYU to win by more than 5, but the Wildcats ended up having a really good season, finishing 24-9 with an 8-seed in the Big Dance, so this win aged well.
14. Men's basketball 72-62 vs. Miami, November 27th:
This was another one that ended up being a much more impressive win than it seemed like at the time. The Hurricanes were coming off a 7-24 season, but this year, they're 25-8, and they're a 7 seed in the Big Dance. Also, when the Miami football team inexplicably made it into the college football playoff ahead of BYU despite the Cougars having the better record and the stronger schedule, knowing that we beat them in basketball was a slight consolation, and it was about as relevant as most of the arguments people were making for the Hurricanes.
13. Women's basketball 71-62 vs. Arizona St, January 3rd:
The Sun Devils came into this game at 15-0 with wins over Gonzaga and Utah, two of BYU's biggest rivals, but they left the Marriott Center 15-1. The jaw-dropping stat from this game was BYU outrebounding Arizona St 54-25. Even though the NCAA tournament ignored both of BYU's wins against Arizona St, and even though BYU's resume might literally have looked better if they had lost this game because it may have put ASU in the top 45, making the win in Tempe a quad 1 win, this win still felt pretty good.
12. Women's basketball 66-61 at Arizona St, February 25th:
There are a few reasons this one is ranked higher than the other one. One, it was on the road. Two, BYU came back from down 15 to win. Three, it was part of an amazing stretch BYU had to end the season. Again, I wish the NCAA tournament committee had paid more attention to this game, but it still made a big difference as far as BYU's seeding in the Big 12 tournament and the WBIT.
11. Men's basketball 68-48 vs. West Virginia, March 11th:
BYU has historically not been very good in conference tournaments. I started paying attention to BYU basketball in the 2005-06 season, and since that season, BYU has had nine conference tournament losses to teams with lower seeds.
Prior to this game, they only had two wins against teams with higher seeds, both of which were only seeded 1 spot higher than BYU. Not only did BYU finally beat a team seeded three spots ahead of them, but they did it by 20 points. We can forget about the fact that it wasn't really an upset because BYU and West Virginia actually had the same conference record, and BYU was actually favored to win. It just felt good to win a conference tournament game while having the bigger number to the left of our name.
10. Women's basketball 86-74 at Utah, February 21st:
Can you believe BYU went a combined 6-0 against Utah in football and men's and women's basketball this season? While neither of the men's team's wins against Utah made the list due to that Utah team finishing dead last in the Big 12, you'd better believe all three of the women's wins against Utah are making the list. The reason this one is ranked the lowest of the three is that it's the only one where BYU didn't come back from down double digits, but what did make this win impressive was how BYU did it despite major foul trouble. Plus, after bad losses against Colorado and Cincinnati, I thought BYU might end the regular season on a 5-game losing streak, and this game completely turned things around
9. Women's basketball 77-65 vs. Utah, January 31st:
This was the win that ended BYU's 4-game losing streak to Utah, and it felt good. BYU was down by 10 at halftime, but thanks to Brinley Cannon's jaw-dropping six 3-pointers, BYU stormed back and won going away. This one really got my dopamine going.
8. Women's basketball 73-61 vs. Texas Tech, January 21st:
On January 3rd, when BYU had beaten Arizona St, I thought BYU had just beaten the most improved team in the Big 12. That actually happened 18 days later. After finishing in a three-way tie for 12th along with BYU last season, the Lady Raiders finished this season 26-7, tied for fourth place in the Big 12, and as a 7-seed in the Big Dance. Plus, after football season, it felt good just to beat Texas Tech in something.
7. Women's basketball 83-69 vs. Iowa St, February 10th:
The week before this game, the BYU men's and women's basketball teams had gone a combined 0-4. Neither of them had beaten anyone other than Utah in weeks. (Feel free to chuckle.) They were going up against Audi Crooks, who is both the leading scorer in the Big 12 and an absolute menace, and I wasn't feeling very hopeful. But somehow, BYU played like the better team from start to finish. This game just had good vibes.
6. Men's basketball 98-70 vs. Wisconsin, November 21st:
This win was so impressive that it actually kind of undermined BYU's upset over the Badgers in the NCAA tournament the year before. When this happened, I remember thinking, "Let me guess. Wisconsin is going to lay an egg this season, and this is going to end up not looking nearly as impressive as it does now." But no, this win ended up aging just great. Wisconsin ended up getting a 5-seed in both the Big 10 tournament and the Big Dance. Too bad the Badgers ended the season at a low point vs. High Point (Pun intended).
5. Women's basketball 75-62 vs. Colorado, February 28th:
Just two weeks before, Colorado had beaten BYU by 30. I remember making a list of all the many possible Big 12 tournament scenarios, but thinking in the back of my mind that it was all going to be for naught because if they lost, they were guaranteed to be a 12-seed playing Cincinnati. After trailing by 8 at the end of the third quarter, BYU outscored Colorado by a whopping 21 points in the fourth quarter. This moved them all the way up to the 9 seed and set up one of the games higher on the list.
4. Men's basketball 79-69 vs. Iowa St, February 21st:
If the only criterion for this list was the quality of the opponent BYU beat, this would be number 1. The Cyclones came in as the number 6 team in the country, and they are a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Not only that, but this game was just a week after the Richie Saunders injury. Prior to this game, people were arguing that BYU wasn't a good team without Saunders and that the NCAA tournament committee should punish them for the injury itself, not just for the games they lost as a result. (I could write an entire article about why I don't like this argument.) This win put those arguments to rest, at least for the time being.
3. Men's basketball 82-76 vs. Texas Tech, March 7th:
After the Iowa St game, when BYU lost three straight games to unranked teams, people once again started arguing that BYU should be punished for losing Saunders, and my own father decided not to watch this game because he was certain that BYU was going to lose, but this win put these arguments back to bed and added to my long list of things to tease my dad about.
Texas Tech was ranked 10th in the country, and they are a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Not to mention, they were one of only two teams that BYU hadn't beaten yet since joining the Big 12. Oh yeah, and BYU came back from down 13 to win this game. And once again, after football season, it just felt good to beat Texas Tech in something.
2. Women's basketball 70-52 vs. Utah, March 5th:
What's better than beating your rival? How about beating your rival in a conference tournament game. I was worried that if we lost this game, it would ruin all the good feelings from both of our wins against them in the regular season. And early in the second half, with Utah leading by 11, it looked like that would happen. But then, BYU played their greatest half of the season, and for the second time, they came back from down double digits to beat Utah by double digits. This win was unreal. It's too bad Utah had to go lose to Eastern Kentucky, or else we could easily have had round 4 in the WBIT championship.
Honorable Mentions:
Men's basketball 78-76 vs. North Carolina, October 24th: I decided that this game didn't qualify because it was an exhibition game, but North Carolina has at times been the Alabama of college basketball, so beating them felt great whether it counted or not.
Women's basketball 56-54 vs. Washington St, December 3rd: I also didn't include this one because Washington St was terrible this year and this win wasn't very satisfying, but I have to give a shout-out to Olivia Hamlin for hitting the game-winning buzzer-beater.
And speaking of buzzer beaters, now for the number one most satisfying win, not just for this season, but possibly since 2017 when we came back from down 18-2 to beat number 1 Gonzaga:
1. Men's basketball 67-64 vs. Clemson, December 9th:
This game started at 4:30 MT, and I had two math tutoring sessions from 7:00 to 9:00. (That's my other job.) I thought for sure this game would be over in time, but thanks to Keba Keita obliterating the rim and causing one of the most delightful delays in college basketball history, there were roughly 8 minutes left in the game when I had to go to my session, so I DVRed the rest of the game so I could watch it after the sessions. Because of this, as far as I was concerned, Clemson's lead, which was as many as 22 at one point, lasted for roughly 3 and a half hours of real time.
When I came back, watched BYU complete the comeback, and then watched Rob Wright hit that crazy, contested buzzer-beater from the right angle, my falsetto voice was activated to the fullest extent. The fact that it happened against a team that had finished tied for second in the ACC last year, which also had a solid season this year, was icing on the cake. This game was everything I live for as a BYU basketball fan.