BYU Makes it into the NCAA Tournament with Room to Spare

Feb 20, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars fans hold up signs before the start of the game between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

When BYU lost in the WCC tournament final, Cougar fans were left on their toes on whether their team would make it to the big dance or not. Last season they were in the NIT, which was a good experience that gave BYU more practice time for a relatively young team.

This year, the Cougars were primed for an NCAA Tournament experience with a slew of talent returning and coming into Provo. The Cougars ended up finishing with a 23-11 record and second place finish in the WCC, a viable resume for the NCAA tournament.

Conference champions were crowned, bubbles were popped and the bracketologists believed that BYU would be celebrating on selection Sunday.

That turned out to be the case, as BYU was selected as an 10 seed in the West region. The game will be held on Mar. 20th at the HMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisc.

The Cougars first opponent is Oregon, who defeated the Cougars earlier this season in overtime. If BYU ends up prevailing over the Ducks, they will likely take on Wisconsin in the second round (it’s technically called the third round, but no one should call it that regardless).

BYU was the last at-large team in the field in Joe Lunardi’s final bracket before selection Sunday, and the Cougars ended up on the right side of the bubble. Many people speculated that Kyle Collinsworth’s season-ending injury might keep the Cougars out, but that allegedly did not factor in to the committees decision. The Committee ended up looking at the Cougars overall resume instead of the injury and placed them in the field. It was a consensus among experts that BYU, if they were to make it in, would be in the play-in games in Dayton. The committee shocked the country, much to the elation of BYU.