Table shows BYU basketball has collected a lot of ranked wins in recent years

The true measure of a great basketball team is simple: do you win games against good teams? For BYU basketball in the past few seasons, the answer to that question has been a bit complicated.

Yes, under the leadership of Mark Pope and Kevin Young, BYU basketball broke onto the Big 12 scene and immediately became something of a pest for the perennial powerhouses from day one. The Cougars boast at least one top-10 victory against a Big 12 foe in every single season of membership and have reached the NCAA Tournament as a ripple effect.

But there have been plenty of growing pains for the program since joining as well. Kevin Young's recruiting ability has thus far outshone his ability to win in March Madness, and the shallow Cougs were too top-heavy behind the big 3 of Richie Saunders, Robert Wright III, and AJ Dybantsa last season to sincerely contend with the big boys of the sport. Thus, a first-round exit to Texas.

But the program is on the rise overall, and that's impossible to deny when looking at just how many great teams BYU hoops has managed to take down since the year 2020.

Sure, they're only 37th in the nation in ranked wins since 2020, but considering the fact that the Cougars played just two ranked games per year (Gonzaga) between the years of 2020 and 2023 -- the team's first season in the Big 12 Conference -- 15 ranked wins is not too shabby. Especially when compared to neighboring power conference programs on this table, BYU basketball is clearly taking down giants at an impressive rate.

Only 3 ranked wins arrived in 2025-26 from matchups with Wisconsin, Iowa State, and Texas Tech (the last two wins against top-10 opponents), though the Cougars narrowly lost to number-one Arizona at home, and gave Houston a pair of scares in the regular season and Big 12 Tournament.

It was the Cougs' first two Big 12 seasons that saw the majority of BYU's ranked triumphs. In 2024-25, BYU took down Kansas (by a record margin), Arizona, Iowa State (twice), and Big Ten champs Wisconsin in the Round of 32. In 2023-24, the program's first year of Big 12 membership, BYU broke onto the scene when they took down San Diego State in the preseason and then tackled Iowa State, Baylor, and Kansas in the Big 12 schedule.

No, they aren't quite contenders for the Big 12 championship, but they are the type of team that can take down nearly any program on any given night. Even Houston, a team that has had the blue Cougars' number since both sides joined the conference, has faced a few close calls from BYU basketball in the past few seasons. Heck, BYU led big at halftime when the two met in the Big 12 Conference tournament this season.

BYU basketball is on the climb. And though they're far from the summit, they're heading in the right direction.

For BYU basketball and Kevin Young, that's all you can really hope for.

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