Pac-12 Basketball: What would a conference challenge look like?

Utah Utes vs BYU Cougars

The Holy War returns to basketball after a one-year hiatus due to an on-court scuffle. That’s only raised tensions between the two fan bases, making this game a must watch regardless of the talent they bring.

For Utah, their up and down season basically ended when they gave Oregon State their first and only win of the conference last year. Losing Kyle Kuzma to the NBA is a significant loss, and at best the Utes will be on the bubble line. That will only happen though if Sedrick Barefield and David Collette vastly improve from last year as the go-to guys.

BYU will also lose their best player in Eric Mika, and the Cougars had several bad losses even with him. Dave Rose will look on Nick Emery to return to his freshman form, along with TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs taking the next step in their sophomore campaigns.

Considering that both teams underperformed the previous season, this is almost a must-win game for either to have an at-large resume worthy of consideration. As for the matchup, the Cougars tend to struggle against athleticism, something the Utes do have. It will be an emotional and testy game, one that will go down to the wire.

Prediction: BYU