Basketball is back at BYU, and the schedule is loaded with the kind of games that will tell you plenty about Kevin Young’s team before the postseason picture even comes into focus.
The Cougars are only three days from getting back on the Marriott Center floor, starting with Friday’s exhibition against Nebraska. That will be the first look at a new roster built around 3-point shooting, but the real stress test comes once the regular season begins.
BYU’s path back to the NCAA Tournament includes the Maui Invitational over Thanksgiving, two games against defending Big 12 champion Arizona, and a pair of rivalry meetings with Utah. Beyond those, there are five matchups that stand out.
The opener gives BYU no breathing room. The Cougars open Nov. 2 against Ohio State at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, a veteran Big Ten team that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
The game also puts five-star freshman forwards Bruce Branch III and Anthony Thompson on the same court for the first time at the college level. With so many new faces in the rotation, BYU may not be at full polish yet, but a win there would give the Cougars an immediate jolt of momentum.
A few weeks later, the spotlight turns to an old in-state rivalry that suddenly feels fresh again. Utah State comes to Provo on Dec. 9 for the first time since 2021, and it shapes up as BYU’s best nonconference test.
The Aggies have gone 109-31 over the past four seasons and have become a regular NCAA Tournament presence despite cycling through three different head coaches in that span. Now led by Ben Jacobson and playing in the Pac-12, Utah State will bring plenty of edge to the Marriott Center.
The return of Dallin Hall adds another layer; the new Aggies point guard played 100 games for BYU from 2022-25 and will be back in his old arena.
Kansas makes just its second-ever trip to the Marriott Center on Jan. 9, and the setting should match the moment. It’s a Saturday morning tip at 11 a.m. on ESPN, which means the game will be under a national spotlight.
These two have already traded blows in memorable fashion - BYU rolled past the Jayhawks 91-57 in Provo in 2025, then Kansas answered the next year in Lawrence behind Darryn Peterson over AJ Dybantsa. This time, Kansas arrives led by consensus No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes and expected to be back in its usual conference-title chase, possibly in Bill Self’s final season with the program.
BYU’s trip to Houston on Jan. 30 may be the most important measuring-stick game of the conference slate. Since joining the Big 12 in 2023, the Cougars haven’t beaten Kelvin Sampson’s Houston team.
The red Cougars have been a machine lately, going 97-17 over the last three seasons, reaching seven straight Sweet 16s and the national championship game in 2025. BYU pushed Houston hard twice last season, leading in the second half both times before losing by 11 and seven.
If the Cougars’ perimeter firepower is what it’s expected to be, this is the game where it gets a chance to crack Houston’s defense.
The regular season ends March 5 at Texas Tech, and that one has all the ingredients of a big finish. BYU and the Red Raiders will meet once, but it comes on a Friday night FS1 stage in Lubbock with Big 12 tournament seeding possibly hanging in the balance.
Texas Tech star JT Toppin, who is recovering from a torn ACL, should be back to full strength by then. In his last game against BYU, he went for 27 points and 13 rebounds.
The Cougars upset Texas Tech to close the 2026 regular season, and they have yet to go to Kansas City for the conference tournament immediately after a loss.
In Other News...
BYU Red Zone Failure Just Got Even More Frustrating
A late-game red-zone trip against Iowa State turned into another reminder of how thin the margin can be for BYU when communication breaks down at the wrong moment. On a critical fourth down, quarterback Bear Bachmeier misheard offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick and checked into the wrong play, and the Cougars came away empty after a turnover on downs.
Aaron Roderick later acknowledged the miscommunication and said he took responsibility for a failed fourth-down call earlier in the game, which only added to the frustration around a drive that had real stakes. Iowa State head coach Jimmy Rogers also said his team dealt with headset communication issues in the third and fourth quarters, a detail that underscored how messy the game got when both sides were fighting not just the opponent, but the equipment and the noise around it. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Has A Huge Chance To Change The Big 12 Race
BYUs rise to the top of the Week 6 Big 12 power rankings has put the Cougars in a spot they could hardly have imagined a few weeks ago. With Utah sitting right behind at No. 2, the conference picture suddenly feels crowded at the top, and the recent results around the league have only sharpened the focus on how quickly the race can change.
The next stretch matters just as much as the current standings, because the rankings are built not only on what teams have already done but on what they still have in front of them. Three reporters ballots helped shape the order, and BYU now has a chance to turn a strong start into something more lasting if it can handle the challenges ahead in Big 12 play. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Vs Notre Dame Just Became A Massive Home Stage For The Cougars
A rare November spotlight is about to hit Provo, and the secondary market says fans know it. The BYU-Notre Dame game has become the priciest ticket in a crowded weekend slate of top 25 matchups, with a get-in price of $450 and some seats listed for more than $13,000 on SeatGeek. For a program that has spent plenty of time fighting for national respect, this is the kind of stage that makes LaVell Edwards Stadium feel bigger than ever.
The stakes explain the demand. This is BYUs first top 10 matchup at home, and it arrives with real College Football Playoff implications attached. Other marquee games around the country are drawing strong prices too, including Ohio State-Indiana and Alabama-Tennessee, but this one stands out because it puts the Cougars at the center of the weekend conversation. For BYU, it is more than a big ticket market - it is a chance to turn a home crowd into a postseason argument. [Read more 🡒]