NCAA Basketball: North Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
22. BYU (22-9)
The Cougars have certainly exceeding early expectations in year one in the Big 12 and Mark Pope’s squad has been a real contender in this league. It’s hard to get on much of a run in the league, and BYU never won more than two straight league games, but the Cougars have hung in most of these games, boasting wins over Iowa State, Baylor, and Kansas on the resume.
Another tough game greeted them this week at Iowa State and the Cougars actually led at the half before fading in the second half, losing 68-63. Richie Saunders led with 20 points off the bench while Jaxon Robinson added 11 points. The regular season ended on a more positive note as BYU won on Senior Night over Oklahoma State in an 85-71 contest. The Cougars prevailed thanks to 19 points from Fousseyni Traore while shooting over 50% from the field as a team.
Nobody in Utah is complaining about this 10-8 finish in Big 12 play. BYU has been better than expected despite not having the same kind of star power as some of these other quality teams in the league. The Cougars could be a sneaky pick to do some damage in the Big 12 Tournament and will be back again in the NCAA Tournament after a disappointing final year in the WCC last season.