BYU Basketball and the Cupcake Schedule

[Wolverine]

It's a schedule that rewards winning. We don't get any brownie points for playing a big name. We'll get recognition by putting together long winning streaks.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

This philosophy seems to have worked well for Boise State Football, didn't work out so well last year for Colorado State Basketball. I think the selection committee in basketball made it very clear last year that you can't game the system anymore and you better have some teeth in your schedule. With that being said, I think there is a good balance in BYU's schedule. Utah, Gonzaga, the tournament in Hawaii are all legit top tier games. Mix that in with Utah State, Belmont, Colorado, Long Beach State, Central Michigan, St. Mary's and you have a pretty solid resume. It is not a glamorous schedule at all, but has the potential for a lot of wins where the committee will give it sufficient respect when evaluating it for entrance into the Big Dance. The teams I have mentioned above represent a total of 13 games. BYU needs to go a minimum 10-3 in those 13 games and avoid ridiculous losses like getting swept by Pepperdine, @ LMU, @ Portland, etc.

[IowaCougar]

The good news for me is I might be able to attend a game! I know my name says Iowa, but I've moved back to my home state of Colorado, so I should be able to attend the CU game. The other interesting tidbit is that my alma mater will be playing my daughter's alma mater (Adams State). I look at this as a good chance for the Adams State players to get some good experience against top-tier competition.

If Adams State wanted to be competitive with BYU in something, they should bring their cross-country team (look them up - even though they're D2, they are VERY good). My daughter actually was part of 4 straight national championship teams there, and was the individual national champ her senior year. Now you know more about Adams State than you knew before!

[Wolverine]

The good news for me is I might be able to attend a game! I know my name says Iowa, but I've moved back to my home state of Colorado, so I should be able to attend the CU game. The other interesting tidbit is that my alma mater will be playing my daughter's alma mater (Adams State). I look at this as a good chance for the Adams State players to get some good experience against top-tier competition.

If Adams State wanted to be competitive with BYU in something, they should bring their cross-country team (look them up - even though they're D2, they are VERY good). My daughter actually was part of 4 straight national championship teams there, and was the individual national champ her senior year. Now you know more about Adams State than you knew before!

Joe Vigil is a legend (former harrier myself and Colorado resident at one time). Alamosa at one time was Mecca for Olympian distance runners (maybe still is to a degree?)

[BlueK]

It's a schedule that rewards winning. We don't get any brownie points for playing a big name. We'll get recognition by putting together long winning streaks.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

This philosophy seems to have worked well for Boise State Football, didn't work out so well last year for Colorado State Basketball. I think the selection committee in basketball made it very clear last year that you can't game the system anymore and you better have some teeth in your schedule. With that being said, I think there is a good balance in BYU's schedule. Utah, Gonzaga, the tournament in Hawaii are all legit top tier games. Mix that in with Utah State, Belmont, Colorado, Long Beach State, Central Michigan, St. Mary's and you have a pretty solid resume. It is not a glamorous schedule at all, but has the potential for a lot of wins where the committee will give it sufficient respect when evaluating it for entrance into the Big Dance. The teams I have mentioned above represent a total of 13 games. BYU needs to go a minimum 10-3 in those 13 games and avoid ridiculous losses like getting swept by Pepperdine, @ LMU, @ Portland, etc.

I'm going to predict right now that this season BYU avoids the silly kind of WCC losses. Most fans have probably forgotten, but for most of Dave Rose's career BYU almost never lost to bad teams. It's been purely a WCC/post-Jimmer phenomenon. Maybe later I'll post some numbers to show it.

I think the main reason for this is because these last few teams have never been very deep and have always had some glaring weaknesses or been pretty unbalanced. Last year we had a monster scorer in Haws, but absolutely zero scoring threats inside. As good as Haws was, it's easier to play defense against a team like that than one where you have to respect everyone's offense at least somewhat. This year's team appears to not have those issues. With Davis and Aytes expected to be reliable scorers in the post, I think playing defense against BYU this year is going to be much harder -- especially for the lower-rung WCC teams who would show up as a bad loss on the resume.

[Wolverine]

It's a schedule that rewards winning. We don't get any brownie points for playing a big name. We'll get recognition by putting together long winning streaks.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

This philosophy seems to have worked well for Boise State Football, didn't work out so well last year for Colorado State Basketball. I think the selection committee in basketball made it very clear last year that you can't game the system anymore and you better have some teeth in your schedule. With that being said, I think there is a good balance in BYU's schedule. Utah, Gonzaga, the tournament in Hawaii are all legit top tier games. Mix that in with Utah State, Belmont, Colorado, Long Beach State, Central Michigan, St. Mary's and you have a pretty solid resume. It is not a glamorous schedule at all, but has the potential for a lot of wins where the committee will give it sufficient respect when evaluating it for entrance into the Big Dance. The teams I have mentioned above represent a total of 13 games. BYU needs to go a minimum 10-3 in those 13 games and avoid ridiculous losses like getting swept by Pepperdine, @ LMU, @ Portland, etc.

I'm going to predict right now that this season BYU avoids the silly kind of WCC losses. Most fans have probably forgotten, but for most of Dave Rose's career BYU almost never lost to bad teams. It's been purely a WCC/post-Jimmer phenomenon. Maybe later I'll post some numbers to show it.

I think the main reason for this is because these last few teams have never been very deep and have always had some glaring weaknesses or been pretty unbalanced. Last year we had a monster scorer in Haws, but absolutely zero scoring threats inside. As good as Haws was, it's easier to play defense against a team like that than one where you have to respect everyone's offense at least somewhat. This year's team appears to not have those issues. With Davis and Aytes expected to be reliable scorers in the post, I think playing defense against BYU this year is going to be much harder -- especially for the lower-rung WCC teams who would show up as a bad loss on the resume.

I like your thoughts here and I hope you are spot on with your prediction regarding "bad" losses in conference play. Back in the MWC days I don't hardly remember Rose's teams losing to teams in the bottom half of the conference such as Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force, TCU, etc. The transition to the WCC has been a lot more difficult than anyone imagined. The style of play in the WCC is quite different than what was/is played in the MWC. It is a much more offense oriented league with a lot of European flavor to it. I don't think BYU has had any problem on the offensive end of things, but defending this style of play has been quite a challenge to say the least.

[BlueK]

You're right that defense has been a major reason for losing some of those games we shouldn't have. After 2012 BYU has really struggled on that side, but I think the personnel we have this year will mean a much improved defense. Davis and Aytes I've heard play good defense, as does Emery and Chatman. Kyle has always been alright. Fischer is weak there as was Haws. I think having others around him who can play defense will take care of that. Kaufusi really came on at the end of last year, and at least in the zone Austin plays pretty good defense.

In the past BYU has played good defense under Rose. Here is how they've been ranked year by year by Ken Pomeroy. He takes the tempo into account, which gives a more accurate measure than just looking at points allowed.

2015: 160
2014: 104
2013: 90
2012: 25
2011: 38
2010: 51
2009: 39
2008: 11
2007: 105
2006: 165