The BYU Cougars have punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
March Madness, often times called “The Big Dance,” begins this week and the Cougars landed themselves in the 6 seed in the West Region during the NCAA selection show broadcast on Sunday.
“I’m just excited,” said BYU head coach Kevin Young. “This is such a phenomenal tournament and it’s a privilege to play in it. It captivates America. My experience in it last year for the first time was incredible, so I’m just excited.”
BYU’s first round matchup is still undecided. Because of their seeding, BYU will play the winner of a play-in game between the University of Texas and North Carolina State University.
“Would we have liked to know for sure who we were playing? Probably,” Young said. “But I’m an optimistic type of thinker, so I think the positive side is it gives you less time to overthink it. I think there’s actually a lot of power in that, you know focusing on yourself right now, trying to just get better at the things that make us good and have made us good during this little resurgence that we’ve had. I think it’ll be a good time to do that.”
For freshman AJ Dybansta, he’s excited to play in a tournament he watched as a kid.
“I definitely grew up watching March Madness,” Dybansta said. “I remember some of the notable upsets, some of the notable buzzer beaters, so it just feels good to be able to be in that same situation. It feels good to be able to participate in it.”
BYU seemed to find their groove during the Big 12 Tournament, which Young thinks will propel them forward in the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve had some stuff that guys have had to work through collectively with the injuries and a couple of losing streaks and nobody blinked. We just stayed with I,” Young said. “And I think we caught some momentum at the right time. I think our guys really believe that we can go out and guard anybody, where that hadn’t been the case for a lot of the year.”
The bracket is set and the Cougars are looking to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Their first game will be held in Portland, Oregon against the winner of Texas and NC State on Thursday night at 5:30 PM.