BYU and VCU in the NCAA Tournament: A History of Challenges and Aspirations
The BYU Cougars and the VCU Rams, two teams with rich basketball histories, have often found the NCAA Tournament to be a challenging proving ground. Both programs share the burden of recent struggles, each having lost their last five NCAA Tournament games. This shared adversity sets the stage for an inspired battle when they meet in the first round of the East Regional in Denver.
BYU's NCAA Tournament History: Moments of Glory and Near Misses
The "Big Dance" hasn't always been kind to BYU. Since 1979, the Cougars have only twice advanced to the Sweet 16 and have reached the Elite Eight just once. Despite these limited deep runs, BYU's NCAA Tournament history is filled with memorable moments and significant milestones.
Early Tournament Appearances and NIT Success
BYU fielded its first basketball team in 1903, with the first game against Utah State University in 1906, and against the University of Utah in 1909. These two rivalries continue to this day. The Cougars made their first of 32 NCAA tournament appearances in 1950 under head coach Stan Watts, coming within one point of reaching the national semifinals. The 1951 team was even more successful, winning 28 games and once again qualifying for the NCAA tournament. In addition, the 1951 team won the first of two NIT championships for the school, defeating AP No. 9 St. John's, AP #10 St. Louis and AP #13 Dayton to win the title. Notable players on that team include: Mel Hutchins, who was taken #2 in the 1951 NBA draft, was named the 1951-52 NBA co-rookie of the year and became a 5-time NBA All-Star with the Pistons and the Knicks; Roland Minson, who was drafted #16 overall in the 1951 NBA draft; and Loren C. Dunn, a future general authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Cougars would go on to make five more appearances in the NCAA tournament under Watts, and win their second NIT championship in 1966, although by that time the overall prestige of the NIT had fallen considerably. BYU has the most NCAA appearances of any men's team not to make the Final Four, having made 32 NCAA tournaments. BYU, alongside Xavier, Saint Joseph's, Boston College, Arizona State, and Davidson are each tied for second most in Elite Eight appearances without a Final Four with three (Missouri has the most with five).
The Ainge Era: Elite Eight Run
After Watts' retirement following the 1972 season, the program experienced five consecutive losing seasons from 1974 through 1978 before returning to the NCAA tournament in 1979 behind Danny Ainge and coach Frank Arnold. The deepest run in the NCAA Tournament in BYU basketball history was in 1981 when the Cougars reached the Elite Eight during Ainge's senior season, just one game shy of the Final Four.
The Jimmer Fredette Era: A Sweet Sixteen Appearance
BYU's first NCAA Tournament win in 17 years took heroic efforts from Jimmer Fredette and Mike Lloyd Jr. In 2011, BYU reached its first Sweet 16 in 30 years. BYU pulled off an epic 25-point comeback to storm back against the Iona Gaels. Fredette's scoring prowess led BYU to a memorable season and a Sweet Sixteen appearance.
Read also: NCAA Tournament: Florida Gators
Recent Tournament Struggles
The Cougars are 0-2 in their last two NCAA trips as No. 6 seeds against 11 seeds - the exact same stage we see. A year ago a defensive-minded Duquesne stunned Mark Pope’s team at this event.
BYU in the Big 12 Conference
After lackluster 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, BYU was picked to finish 13th of 14 teams in the Big 12 prior to the 2023-24 season, their first competing in the conference. However, the Cougars posted a 10-8 conference record and went 22-9 during the regular season to finish fifth in the final conference standings. They defeated UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Conference tournament before losing to Texas Tech in the quarterfinals. BYU finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 23-8 record, 14-6 in Big 12 play. After starting conference play 2-4, the Cougars won 12 of their final 14 regular season games, including road wins over ranked Arizona and Iowa State teams and a 91-57 home win over #23 Kansas (BYU's largest-ever win over a ranked opponent, and tied for Kansas's worst loss of the Bill Self era). BYU finished tied for third in the final Big 12 standings, earning a double bye in the conference tournament. The Cougars defeated Iowa State in the quarterfinals before losing to Houston in the semifinals. On December 10, 2024, AJ Dybantsa, ESPN's #1 overall recruit in the 2025 class and widely anticipated to be the first overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, announced his commitment to BYU on ESPN's First Take with Stephen A. Smith.
VCU's NCAA Tournament History: From Obscurity to Final Four
VCU has performed well in the NCAA Tournament over the years and even advanced to the Final Four in 2011. What was their seed when they made that run? Eleven - just like this year.
The BYU vs. VCU Matchup: A Clash of Styles
BYU needs to bring the circus. The Cougars are preparing to face VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. BYU has played a tougher strength of schedule and has been more successful than VCU against better offenses and defenses. The Cougar offensive metrics are by far the toughest VCU’s vaunted defense has faced this season. BYU is currently No. 11 in offensive adjusted efficiency in KenPom. The next closest-ranked offense VCU faced this season is Colorado State (No. 43).
Keys to the Game
A couple keys to the game for BYU are defensive rebounding (no second-chance points for the Rams), playing hard without fouling, and making their free throws - which wasn’t a problem in Kansas City.
Read also: Pope's NCAA Tournament Goals
The Impact of Coaching
If Kevin Young does one thing for BYU basketball this year, it is to push the Cougar program into a multiple-game appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Kevin Young’s team has made believers out of many of the media when they beat Arizona and Iowa State (twice) and did so in highly competitive fashion. This BYU team has proven to work hard, adjust, compete and win close games at the end. Their one weakness is living by the 3 and then dying by the 3 if those shots don’t go down. The Torvik ratings has BYU ranked 10th and VCU 23rd the last two months. That same rating has BYU ranked fifth and VCU 24th in the last 30 days. In some metrics BYU was playing like the No. 6 team in the country during its recent nine-game win streak. A year ago Pope’s team started strong and faded at the end, but Young’s team appears to be doing just the opposite.
Predictions and Expectations
Jay Drew: Because I believe this BYU basketball team is better equipped for NCAA Tournament play, and better coached, I think the Cougars will be able to scrap their way past VCU. I think Kevin Young’s presence and coaching has given this team more confidence than last year’s team, and that should serve the Cougars well when the game gets tight in Denver. Yes, I think it will be tight most of the way, with BYU pulling away at the end.
Dick Harmon: I throw a lot of respect to the VCU Rams because they are legit. They have shot blockers and rim protectors to help defend and they can get out and pressure the Cougars with an extended defense. The question I have is can VCU keep that up for an entire game if BYU is on with their outside shooting? If the Cougars can score more than 72, they win. If they can hit 11 threes, they win. If they can get a transition offense game going off a rebounding edge, they’ll be hard to beat. Richie Saunders and Trevin Knell have to make shots and the Cougars will be playing Wisconsin in the second round on Saturday.
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tags: #byu #vcu #ncaa #tournament #history
