Will BYU Make An NCAA Run? College Basketball World Weighs In.
DENVER – BYU is a dark horse pick among college basketball analysts to make a run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars received a No. 6 seed in the East Region and will open the “Big Dance” in Denver on Thursday against No. 11 seed VCU.
BYU has not played in the Round of 32 since 2011, when Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery were holding it down in BYU’s backcourt.
It’s well-documented how much BYU has struggled over the years in the NCAA Tournament. They hold the record for most NCAA Tournament bids without a Final Four appearance.
But this is a new era at BYU under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin Young. Could he lead BYU to a deep run?
National college basketball analysts and writers shared their thoughts on BYU in preparation for March Madness.
ESPN College Basketball analysts Jay Bilas, Jay Williams, and Seth Greenberg weigh in on BYU
Moments after the bracket was revealed, ESPN held a Bracketology special from Nashville, Tennessee with Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Bilas.
They all weighed in on BYU during a breakdown of the East region.
“BYU-VCU, that’s going to be a great game because VCU forces turnovers,” Jay Bilas said on ESPN’s Bracketology. “…BYU is interesting because almost half of their field goals are threes. Richie Saunders, outstanding shooter, he’s made 74 threes, and his great grandfather invented the tater tot.”
“Egor Demin plays for them and leads the team in assists, as well,” said ESPN’s Jay Williams. “With their floor spacing, even if they get to Wisconsin, they could find themselves in the Sweet 16.”
“What about style of play? They can impose their style of play and get that game up and down and spread the court,” said ESPN’s Seth Greenberg. “Now they get the paint kicks and kicking out, knocking down threes. They can make 10, 12, 14, 16 threes in a game.”