The BYU Cougars have landed a No. 6 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament in the West Region, as announced by the selection committee on Sunday night. BYU is coming off of a loss to 73-66 loss to Houston in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. BYU will take on No. 11 seed Texas or NC State on Thursday. If they win, they will play the winner of No. 3 Gonzaga or No. 14 Kennesaw State.
BYU’s 2025-26 Basketball Season
The Cougars had a bit of an up and down year in conference play, paired with a dominant non-conference schedule. Kevin Young’s squad entered conference play at 14-2, but had trouble in conference play against the conference’s heavy-weight squads.
They finished the year off with an even conference record of 9-9. They recorded wins against No. 16 Texas Tech and No. 7 Iowa State, which were the highlights of the year. Unfortunately, they also four straight games in late January and early February against No. 2 Arizona, No. 14 Kansas, Oklahoma State, and No. 5 Houston. A big part of their success this season has come star freshman AJ Dybantsa, who leads the nation in scoring (25.3PPG), and Richie Saunders (18PPG, 5.8RPG, 2.1APG), who is out for the remainder of the year with an injury.
The Cougars are led by one of the nation’s rising stars, Kevin Young, who is in his second season in Provo and has gone 49-21 throughout his coaching career.
BYU’s NCAA Tournament History
From 1950-2025, the BYU basketball team reached the NCAA Division I tournament 32 times with an overall record of 16-35. The Cougars have reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament on three occasions (1950, 1951, and 1981). One notable stretch for the Cougars was from 2007-2012, when the program made the NCAA Tournament six straight seasons. A lot of that was due to BYU legend Jimmer Fredette, who spent four years in Provo from 2007-2011.
The Cougars have struggled in recent years in the NCAA Tournament, exiting in the first round five times in their last six appearances. That’s since changed under Kevin Young, albeit we’re looking at a pretty small sample size. Last season, the Cougars reached the Sweet 16 before losing to No. 2 Alabama 113-88. That came after wins over No. 11 VCU and No. 3 Wisconsin.
