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BYU Bracketology
by sroufe on Mar 9, 2010 7:00 AM PST
7 comments
In a matchup as magnificent as any the Earth has seen since Hades vs. Zeus, the University of Wyoming Cowboys and Air Force Academy Falcons will open MWC Tournament play in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon. But before that epic, let's breakdown where your No. 14 BYU Cougars stand as projected by The Fates, err, bracketologists.
Best-Case Scenario:
4 BYU vs. 13 Kent State - at San Jose (WEST REGION) (See Bracket Project)
How can it happen? -
Reaching the MWC Tournament Championship game by beating TCU and UNLV on their home floor - something the Cougars have failed to accomplish during the Dave Rose era. Now, if that were to happen, the Cougars would love to see the Aztecs upset the Lobos in the Semi-Final round and for Jimmer Fredette to be 100% healthy or close to it. If either of those are the case (or both), then BYU will have a great chance of attaining a 4-seed.
And, in case you've been ice fishing in Irkutsk the past two months, BYU wants a 4-seed in the West Region - with an opportunity to play in Salt Lake City in the Sweet 16. Who is Kent State? Well, the Golden Flashes of Kent, Ohio have a 23-8 overall record and won the MAC. Their best wins have been over UAB, Wofford, and Akron.
Most Likely:
5 BYU vs. 12 Seton Hall - at San Jose (EAST REGION) (See Blogging the Bracket)
4 BYU vs. 13 Illinois - at San Jose (EAST REGION) (See ESPN)
How can it happen? -
The projected Semi-Final game between BYU and UNLV will probably have a 4-seed at stake for the Cougars. Should they lose to the Rebels they'll probably fall to a 5 or even a 6 seed. Of course, despite BYU's loss to UNLV on February 6th at the Thomas & Mack Center, there's no reason to think the Cougars can't finally beat Lon Kruger's club in Sin City. BYU's most athletic players - Abouo, Davies, Emery and Loyd - are all playing well of late, and that bodes well for the Cougars in matching up against Tre'von Willis and Co.
The ESPN projection seems fair assuming a Cougar win against UNLV. And while BYU wouldn't be ecstatic about drawing a team like the 18-13 Fighting Illini, there are much worse scenarios. Illinois has beaten Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Wisconsin and Wofford this season - but have also lost three in a row to finish conference play. They also lost to the Utes in Las Vegas in November. Needless to say it's been an inconsistent season for Bruce Weber's team. Another interesting note about playing Illinois is that you'd likely see Michael Jordan in attendance as his son Jeff is a back-up point guard for the Illini.
As for earning a 5 seed, it would be the best the Cougars have merited since 1988 (4-seed) and the last time BYU was seeded anything higher than 8 they won a tournament game. The other aspect in the Cougars' favor here is that they'd have a major home-court advantage in San Jose over schools like Illinois and Seton Hall.
What is Seton Hall like this year? Why haven't you heard much buzz about their squad this season? Well, maybe because they finished the Big East schedule tied for 9th in the conference. (That's right, the Big East should have at least nine teams in the NCAA Tournament - and that's not including UCONN.) The Seton Hall Pirates are currently 18-11 and will probably be 19-12 headed into the tourney. They have beaten Pitt and Louisville this season. The Pirates may have 11 losses - but none of them are considered "bad losses."
7 comments | 0 recs |
Awards in abundance for Cougars
Jimmer Fredette - All-MWC First Team
Jackson Emery - All-MWC Second Team, All-Defensive Team
Jonathan Tavernari - All-MWC Third Team, 6th-Man of the Year
Tyler Haws - All-MWC Third Team
The Defensive Player of the Year award went to David Foster of Utah. Foster is 5th in the nation in blocked shots and 748th in defensive rebounds. Meanwhile, Jackson Emery is 2nd in the nation in steals and averages 3.6 defensive rebounds per game compared to Foster's 3.3 average. Just sayin'.
1 day ago
sroufe
4 comments
0 recs
MWC Tournament Schedule and Predictions
by Layton on Mar 8, 2010 10:14 AM PST
17 comments
| 2010 CONOCO MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS | |||
| Wednesday, March 10 | |||
| 2 p.m. | First-round Game | No. 8 Wyoming vs. No. 9 Air Force |  |
| Thursday, March 11 | |||
| Noon | Quarterfinal Game #1 | No. 1 New Mexico vs. No. 8/No. 9 Winner | |
| 2:30 p.m. | Quarterfinal Game #2 | No. 4 San Diego State vs. No. 5 Colorado State | /  |
| 6 p.m. | Quarterfinal Game #3 | No. 2 BYU vs. No. 7 TCU | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Quarterfinal Game #4 | No. 3 UNLV vs. No. 6 Utah | / |
| Friday, March 12 | |||
| 6 p.m. | Semifinal Game #1 | Quarterfinal #1 and #2 Winners | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Semifinal Game #2 | Quarterfinal #3 and #4 Winners | |
| Saturday, March 13 | |||
| 4 p.m. | Championship Game |  |
|
All times PST
Predictions after the jump...
17 comments | 0 recs |
Cougars gig Frogs in Fort Worth, 107-77
by sroufe on Mar 7, 2010 3:51 PM PST
0 comments
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Open GameThread: Cougars vs. Horned Frogs
by sroufe on Mar 6, 2010 10:00 AM PST
6 comments
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MWC Connection: BYU stereotypes don't escape the NFL Combine
"We all get the dumb BYU jokes that they are old and married. Haha, real funny, but at the NFL combine one would think ... those would not be brought up.
Well you are wrong. Rich Eisen and Mike Mayock crack jokes about BYU tight end Dennis Pitta being married for the past nine years - real mature guys - well, at least Charles Davis makes a point to try to bring it back to actual football by saying he caught a lot of balls."
5 days ago
sroufe
0 comments
0 recs
Boiler Boylen goes off on Tribune's Monson
by Layton on Mar 3, 2010 9:59 PM PST
4 comments
Sure Jim Boylen is a passionate guy, but did you know he's also a jerk, a complete polar opposite to the classy Dave Rose? Well, if you didn't know this, look no further than Wednesday's post game spat with the Salt Lake Tribune's Gordon Monson:
Boylen: "Don't come here once every two years and ask those questions. I don't want to hear that from you."
"I can ask the questions," said Monson.
"Good," said Boylen. "I'm not answering it. Don't come here once every two years. I don't want to hear that from you."
Monson replied, "Coach, give me a break — show some class."
Said Boylen, "Yeah, nice of you to show up."
You may be wondering what the question was that angered Boylen so badly... "Coach, what was the reason for the offensive inefficiency?"
GIVE ME A BREAK BOILER BOYLEN. YOU'RE PATHETIC, AND THE REASON WHY YOUR TEAM IS PATHETIC. No wonder nobody shows up to your lousy games.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Cougs Crush Utes; Jimmer No Factor
by Layton on Mar 3, 2010 9:38 PM PST
0 comments
It's always nice to beat the Utes. And it's especially nice to crush the Utes at their place in the only game of the season when they've had more than a hundred fans in the seats. And to set a record for largest margin of victory is sweet. What's not sweet is that NM wrapped up the regular season conference title earlier this evening. But, what is sweet is the selection committee places a premium on winning a conference tournament (anybody remember Utah last year?), which may bode extremely well for BYU (or UNLV--ugh!@#@!$%)...
Anyway, in tonight's melee on The Hill, the Cougars simply destroyed the impossibly inconsistent Utes, 71-51. I wasn't expecting a blowout--I don't think anybody who's familiar with the rivalry (not so much in basketball) would expect such a thing--but it was simply that: a blowout. It was BEAutiful beating the morale of Boiler Boylen, my least favorite--er, make that second-least favorite coach in the MWC (Lobo-lover Steve Alford now owns the coveted spot).
If you're getting the vibe that I'm not too excited right now, you right! Why? Jimmer is sick. Some may argue he played only 19 minutes because BYU owned the game. Maybe. But in those 19 minutes he was 1-7 from the field and looked sluggish. My fingers are crossed Mono hasn't returned in the nick of time for tourney play--that would be worst-case scenario for the Cougars.
Having said that, I hope Brandon Davies' performance won't go unnoticed. BYU is so much better with an inside presence and that's exactly what he provided tonight--21 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes. Incredibly efficient. If he can make this a consistent effort BYU can go a long way in the tourney, because we've all seen the kind of team they are when the outside shots are falling.
And kudos again to MLJ for stepping up BIG TIME in place of Jimmer. 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. My word, kid! I can't wait to see you the next two years...
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Cougars Football Schedule
@
Oklahoma
|
Sat 09/05 | W 14 - 13 |
| @ Tulane | Sat 09/12 | W 54 - 3 |
|
Florida St.
|
Sat 09/19 | L 28 - 54 |
| Colorado St. | Sat 09/26 | W 42 - 23 |
| Utah State | Fri 10/02 | W 35 - 17 |
| @ UNLV | Sat 10/10 | W 59 - 21 |
| @ San Diego St. | Sat 10/17 | W 38 - 28 |
| TCU | Sat 10/24 | L 7 - 38 |
| @ Wyoming | Sat 11/07 | W 52 - 0 |
| @ New Mexico | Sat 11/14 | W 24 - 19 |
| Air Force | Sat 11/21 | W 38 - 21 |
|
Utah
|
Sat 11/28 | W 26 - 23 |
|
Oregon St.
|
Tue 12/22 | W 44 - 20 |
Mountain West Conference Standings
(updated 1.4.2010 at 10:13 PM PST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 8 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
|
BYU Cougars
|
7 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
|
Utah Utes
|
6 | 2 | 10 | 3 |
| Air Force Falcons | 5 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| UNLV Rebels | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| San Diego St. Aztecs | 2 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| New Mexico Lobos | 1 | 7 | 1 | 11 |
| Colorado St. Rams | 0 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
Cougars Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
| TCU | Thu 03/11 | 6:00 PM PST |
Last 5 Games
| @ TCU | Sat 03/06 | W 107 - 77 |
|
@
Utah
|
Wed 03/03 | W 71 - 51 |
| New Mexico | Sat 02/27 | L 81 - 83 |
| San Diego St. | Wed 02/24 | W 82 - 68 |
| @ Wyoming | Sat 02/20 | W 85 - 63 |
Mountain West Conference Standings
(updated 3.7.2010 at 12:36 AM PST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| New Mexico Lobos | 14 | 2 | 28 | 3 |
|
BYU Cougars
|
13 | 3 | 28 | 4 |
| UNLV Runnin Rebels | 11 | 5 | 23 | 7 |
| San Diego St. Aztecs | 11 | 5 | 22 | 8 |
| Colorado St. Rams | 7 | 9 | 16 | 14 |
|
Utah Utes
|
7 | 9 | 14 | 16 |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 5 | 11 | 13 | 18 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 3 | 13 | 10 | 20 |
| Air Force Falcons | 1 | 15 | 9 | 20 |
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
