Here’s BYU basketball’s path to a Big 12 Conference Championship

As many die-hard BYU basketball fans already know, the Cougars haven’t won a conference tournament championship since the 2000-2001 season back in the good ol’ Mountain West days. Now that BYU is in the vaunted Big 12, hanging that conference championship banner would be unlike anything else in the Marriott Center. Here are the four keys to a BYU Big 12 conference title.

Secure a Top Four Seed…

First, BYU needs to close out the regular season strong, get a little bit of help, and ultimately land a top four seed in the Big 12 tournament. The reason this is so important is because of the way the 16-team conference tournament is organized.

Teams that finish in the top four earn a two-round buy all the way into the quarterfinals. As a top four seed BYU would already be among the final eight teams standing and just one win away from the semifinals. Throw BYU into a four-team tournament and anything can happen.

…or Finish as the Sixth Seed

If BYU doesn’t finish among the top four seeds, let’s hope they don’t finish fifth. The reason for this is the No. 5 seed is in the same bracket as the No. 1 seed Houston, a team that’s playing at an extremely high level right now. As the No. 5 seed BYU would have to play Houston in the semifinals and the longer our Cougars can avoid their Cougars, the better.

As the No. 6 seed BYU would get a first round bye then need to win in the second round to make the quarterfinals, but in this scenario they wouldn’t face Houston until the conference championship game.

Make Free Throws

If BYU wants to win the Big 12 tournament championship, they simply can’t afford to keep missing free throws. Their abysmal 68.8% free throw shooting percentage ranks 12th in the Big 12 and is confounding for a team that shoots 37.5% from the 3-point line. Most games in the Big 12 tournament are going to be something of a 50-50 proposition, and BYU simply can’t afford to squander away free points at the foul line.

Rely on the Proven Veterans

Lastly, while BYU’s 11-man rotation has been surprisingly successful in conference play, the pressure ratchets up in conference tournaments. Kevin Young might want to rely more heavily on his proven veterans.

By relying on “proven veterans”, I’m advocating for more minutes for Fousseyni Traore and Dallin Hall. Traore’s increased minutes would come at the expense of Mihailo Boskovic. When it comes to getting Dallin Hall more minutes, it means taking some away from Dawson Baker and freshman Egor Demin. While I love Demin’s passing, his inability to score, 62.5% free throw percentage, and his propensity for turnovers (he’s averaging 3.2 TOs per game in conference play) could be costly down the stretch in close games that come down to one or two possessions.

It has been nearly a quarter of a century since BYU’s last conference tournament championship.

If Kevin Young’s squad can get the right seeding, make free throws, and rely on veteran leadership, they have a clear path to the semifinals and then anything can happen with a team that can get as hot as the Cougars.