BYU basketball hopes to snap losing streak in NCAA Tournament games

Do you remember the last time BYU basketball won a tournament game? It’s been a minute. And by a minute, I mean 6,832,000 minutes. That’s 12 years 11 months and 25 days that have passed since BYU last celebrated a victory on the game’s highest stage, and let’s be honest here — it was a first four game among 14 seeds.

Wild to think the Cougars were an at-large bid on the 14 line, but the past is the past, and the future is now, old man. Many years have passed since BYU made a significant impact on the landscape of college basketball’s championship tournament, and the Cougars are desperate to shake off the rust on what has been a bleak history on the game’s greatest stage.

The eyes of the nation will fall on the Cougars this year, and a win just might be in the cards this time.

Last season’s upset loss to Duquesne revealed some of this program’s biggest warts, and against a tough, hard-nosed Duquesne team, Mark Pope’s BYU wasn’t able to shoot themselves out of the massive hole dug in the early minutes.

A six-seed, the Cougars dropped to an 11 seed for the third time in a row — BYU has very bad luck against 11s, I suppose. But in the post-Jimmer era, this program simply hasn’t been able to find the mark in March.

Enter Kevin Young and his band of merry men.

BYU, one of basketball’s fastest-rising squads, has finally found their identity after a slow start in conference play indicated another rocky season was on the forecast. With draft prospect Egor Demin manning the helm at point guard, Richie Saunders as his first mate, and a crack team of hoopers that complement and elevate those around them, these Cougars are much more than a church ball All-Star team that one might expect out of Provo.

This is a team capable of making a serious run if they come together.

Wins over Baylor, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa State, and more have put BYU on the map officially, and with a coach who has experience in the NBA Finals, I’d say the magnitude of the moment is nothing new to BYU’s rookie conductor.

Tired of losing, and looking to win something more, Young and company lead Brigham Young into battle, hoping upon hope that this year will be different.

By all factors, this year must be different.