Utah State wins the Mountain West Conference Championship! (Photo by Utah State Athletics)
BYU and Utah State are headed to the big dance!
BYU 23-11 (9-9 in the Big 12)
The Cougars struggled down the stretch of the regular season. They went 2-4 after losing star Richie Saunders for the season as injuries kept piling up for the Cougars. The Cougars seemed to right the ship on Senior Night in Provo, upsetting #10 Texas Tech, 82-76. They carried that over to the start of the Big 12 Tournament, hammering Kansas State, 105-91. AJ Dybantsa had 40 points in the victory over KSU, and he stayed hot in the next victory over West Virginia, with 27 points.
The Cougars, after their 68-48 victory over West Virginia, would play their third game in as many days on Thursday against the 2025 national runner-up, Houston. There were some questionable missed calls that went against BYU, but Houston is a great team, and earned the 73-66 victory. AJ Dybantsa’s 26 points brought his three-game total to 93, a Big 12 Tournament record previously held by future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant.
BYU, AJ Dybantsa, and Rob Wright are going dancing in Portland! The Cougars are the #6 seed in the West Region, and they will play the winner of a First Four game. In Dayton, NC State and Texas will play to see who will take on BYU!
Utah 10-22 (2-16 in the Big 12)
The Utes’ season came to an end on Tuesday at the hands of Cincinnati in the Big 12 Tournament. The Bearcats beat Utah in the opening round of the tournament, 73-66. Utah finished the season losing 18 of their final 21 games. The U finished dead last in the Big 12 and is relieved and eager to put this horrendous season behind them. Utah hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and is way below the standard their once-proud program had set.
Utah State 28-6 (15-5 in the Mountain West)
The Aggies played their first game in the Mountain West Tournament on Thursday against UNLV, and they won with force. The Aggies defeated the Rebels, 80-60 in Las Vegas, advancing to the Mountain West semifinals on Friday. In the semifinals, they took on Steve Alford’s Nevada Wolfpack. USU soundly defeated Nevada, 79-66, to advance to the Mountain West Championship Game. There, they played San Diego State for the conference crown and an NCAA Tournament berth. The Aggies emerged victorious, 73-62, and made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. Utah State fans better enjoy Coach Jerrod Calhoun while they have him. The job he’s done in Logan will make him a highly prized coach this offseason.
Utah State will go dancing, and they will battle Villanova in the NCAA Tournament! The Aggies are the #9 seed and Nova the #8 in the West Region. They will play on Friday in San Diego!
Utah Valley 25-8 (14-4 in the Western Athletic Conference)
After some initial doubt that the WAC would allow UVU to play because of the bitter fight over the million-dollar fee the Wolverines owed for leaving the conference, Utah Valley got it settled and played in the WAC Tournament. On Friday, they played the team that bounced Southern Utah, UT-Arlington. It was a battle, but Utah Valley won the semifinal matchup, 67-65, and advanced to the WAC Championship on Saturday. The Wolverines took on Cal Baptist for the title. It was a bitterly fought contest, but UVU fell in the end. They lost a heartbreaker, 63-61.
The Wolverines were really that close to their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. My heart breaks for the young Utah Valley player, whose name I know but won’t use (no need to kick anyone while they’re down), who missed what would have been a game-tying slam dunk. UVU will instead head to the NIT once again. Part of why you play the NIT as a team, not in a Power conference, is that every win helps your program build upon itself. The Wolverines will play George Washington in the opening round of the NIT in the Albuquerque Region on Tuesday night.
Weber State 16-16 (10-8 in the Big Sky)
The Wildcats season came to an end this week. They lost their opening round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Weber State fell to Eastern Washington, 84-79. At 16-16, it seems unlikely that any tournaments like the NIT or CBI will send WSU an invitation. While it’s not the finish they hoped for or that is up to their standard, it is an improvement over last year. 16-16 is better than 12-22. Still, the Wildcats’ drought from the NCAA Tournament will now go beyond 10 years (2016). They last played in any invitational tournament in 2017.
Utah Tech 19-15 (11-7 in the Western Athletic Conference)
The Trailblazers played in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Thursday. They took on Abilene Christian in the quarterfinals and prevailed, 80-74. Tech would play California Baptist on Friday night in the semifinals. UT fought hard, but ultimately fell short, losing 86-74. That closed out Utah Tech’s 2025-2026 basketball season.
Southern Utah 10-22 (6-12 in the Western Athletic Conference)
SUU’s rough year mercifully came to a conclusion this week. The Thunderbirds played UT-Arlington in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Thursday. They gave a good last hurrah, but UT-Arlington won, 69-63, advancing to the WAC semifinals and ending the Thunderbirds’ season.
Jimmer Fredette-Keith Van Horn Player of the Week
BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Utah State’s MJ Collins Jr. and Mason Falslev all played well in their conference tournaments. Utah State’s players won their conference crown, but I went with AJ Dybantsa for the player of the week. Any time you can break a record belonging to Kevin Durant, you know you’re playing some pretty good basketball. Dybantsa had 40 points against KSU, 27 against West Virginia, and 26 against Houston. His 93 broke the previous Big 12 record set by Kevin Durant.
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