Busting Brackets
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BYU Basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Cougars

By Tristan Freeman

SPOKANE, WA - FEBRUARY 25: The BYU Cougars celebrate their 79-71 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center on February 25, 2017 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WA - FEBRUARY 25: The BYU Cougars celebrate their 79-71 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center on February 25, 2017 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /
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SPOKANE, WA – FEBRUARY 25: Head coach Dave Rose of the BYU Cougars huddles with his players during a timeout in the first half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center on February 25, 2017 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WA – FEBRUARY 25: Head coach Dave Rose of the BYU Cougars huddles with his players during a timeout in the first half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center on February 25, 2017 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /

Expectations for the season

One thing to remember about this team is that there are zero seniors on the roster. Barring transfers, everyone will be coming back with a year of cohesion under their wings. Considering that Dave Rose constantly has to deal with missions and roster influx every year, it’ll be a good chance to have the main rotation around for a few years.

The youth factor, while good for the program in the future, could come back to haunt them this season. Since entering the WCC, BYU hasn’t managed to sweep the bottom seven teams once, suffering multiple bad losses each year. It will be difficult to expect a roster with no seniors to pull off the feat first.

Their inability to avoid bad losses in conference play, combined with the lack of big-time non-conference opponents will make their at-large chances pretty low.

The monkey that needs to get off their back is in conference tournament woes. They’re currently 0-4 against Gonzaga and 0-1 with Saint Mary’s and unless they win the regular season title, they would have to defeat them both for the automatic bid.

Despite losing Eric Mika, the team overall will have more balance and will efficiently conduct their offense. But for this year, they’re not on the same level as the Zags or the Gaels, leaving them with a likely third-place finish and a NIT selection. But if everyone comes back next year, things could very well be different