BYU Hoops Roars Into Top 25

The BYU Cougars are playing at a season-high level as of right now, piecing together not only one of their best runs of the year, but some of the most impressive basketball in their history.

After the dust settled in Tucson on Saturday, a game in which BYU emerged victorious in a 96-95 win at the McKale Center, the Cougars had accomplished something they hadn’t done since 1988.

That being two straight wins over ranked teams.

#23 Kansas was first on Tuesday the 18^th suffering a 91-57 drubbing in Provo.

Up next was the aforementioned, filled with controversy, win at #19 Arizona.

That historic stretch of consecutive games was enough to get the attention of the Associated Press, who dubbed BYU as the 25^th best team in the nation during their weekly top 25 poll that they released on Monday morning.

This will make for the 155^th time in school history the men’s squad has held a spot in the AP Top 25 and their first time since March of 2024 when they were ranked 21^st before losing to Duquesne in the opening round of the tournament.

This year’s ranking seems to have a bit more substance to it however as the Cougars have been much improved in conference play, currently on a 4 game win streak including wins in Morgantown over West Virginia and at home VS K-State.

This was not a part of their resume last year, as winning in the Big 12 is no easy task, let alone winning consistently.

The 4 game tear is currently the 2^nd best mark in the Big 12, only behind #4 Houston and their six straight victories.

The Big 12 conference has also just recognized a BYU player as the conference’s player of the week for first time ever in the two years of the Cougars membership.

Richie Saunders, the recipient of the award, has a total of 45 points on 17/23 shooting (74%) while going 7/12 from deep for a 58 three point percentage in the Cougars last two wins.

He hit the game winning free throws to take down the Wildcats and has as many steals as he does turnovers in that two game stretch with 3 a piece.

It’s a well deserved honor for a player who continues to see his NBA stock rise.

It seems to be no coincidence that some of the Cougars best play has coincided with Saunders efficiency.

BYU will look to continually bump their stock as they stay in Arizona in preparation for a showdown with Arizona State this Wednesday the 26^th.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 Utah time.

The Cougars will then finish the year hosting West Virginia, traveling to Ames to take on Iowa State, and closing regular season play against Utah at the Marriott Center.

Iowa State is currently ranked #9 in the polls, one of the 5 Big 12 teams making the cut, right behind #4 Houston, and just above #10 Texas Tech.

Arizona and BYU round it out at #22 and #25 respectively.

With a handful of conference games left, and the Big 12 tournament on the way, expect plenty of change in the near future.

The big question for Cougar nation will be: Can BYU elevate their status, or is this the highest they fly?