9. BYU (4-1)
Not even the most talented team in the nation is going to be perfect from start to finish of the college basketball season and BYU spent this past week proving that early struggles weren’t truly indicative. After all, the Cougars entered the season with immense expectations, though their only blemish was understandable close loss to a very strong UConn team. Still, BYU sleepwalked through their game against Delaware and couldn’t afford to repeat that behavior.
Their effort in Salt Lake City this past week was the opposite of that, as the Cougars beat a ranked Wisconsin team 98-70 in a resounding performance. The Big 3 of the Cougars each showed up in a major way, led by 26 points from Richie Saunders. Freshman stud AJ Dybantsa added 18 points while Robert Wright III had a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists against the Badgers.
When on their game, BYU has one of the best offenses in the entire nation, and they certainly showed that this past Friday afternoon. The problems come up when someone else needs to take charge, as the Cougars are looking for reliable options outside of their top three players. Regardless, BYU couldn’t have played much better against the Badgers and now head to Florida for the ESPN Events Invitational, getting exciting games against Miami and Dayton.