Here’s what’s going on inside Darnell’s head after another successful Sunday dinner with the family. If I keep this up, they’re going to expect perfection every week and I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for that kind of pressure.

Eyeing the gold trophy

Former BYU men’s basketball player Jesse Wade commented on social media about what a rush it was to watch his younger sister, Olivia, take what would end up being the game-winning penalty kick against Santa Clara in the NCAA women’s soccer semifinals.

Believe me, Jesse, you had much of Cougar Nation feeling like brother and sister in that moment as well.

The Cougars are playing for the national championship on Monday against No. 1 seed Florida State, a very formidable opponent. The Seminoles lost to Santa Clara in this spring’s NCAA final in penalty kicks and are on a mission.

In year’s past, teams from Power 5 conferences would have to feel pretty confident at this point but the West Coast Conference put two teams into the Final Four.

BYU is worthy.

The Cougars will try and become the 12th team in BYU history to win a national title, joining men’s golf (1981), football (1984), women’s cross country (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2021-spring), men’s volleyball (1999, 2001, 2004) and men’s cross country (2019).

Get together

By the way, there is a women’s soccer championship Watch Party at the Marriott Center on Monday with the doors opening at 5:15 p.m. Admission is free and attendees are encouraged to bring their own food. Try to be more creative than just pizza, OK?

Football follies

Don’t worry. In two years when BYU is finally a member of a Power 5 Conference these college football playoff committees will actually make sense.

Or will they?

For now, Sunday was just another reminder that independence is severely limited in earning a spot among the elite. Despite BYU beating Utah in a head-to-head matchup and going 5-0 against the Pac-12, the Utes moved past the Cougars in the final playoff rankings because, you know, Pac-12.

Ignore the fact that Utah lost to a Mountain West Conference team (San Diego State) that didn’t win that league’s title (Utah State did, a team BYU defeated in Logan) and also lost to a barely above average (7-5) Oregon State team.

It’s funny, because BYU fans are kind of caught between a rock and a hard place: Do you claim those five wins over Pac-12 teams proudly, or do you acknowledge that the Pac-12 just wasn’t very good this year?

Can you do both?

CFP Chairman Gary Barta gave lip service to the Cougars and said the committee is impressed with what BYU did in 2021. Not impressed enough to do anything about it, though. The committee stubbornly parades its P5 biases at every turn and no amount of common sense can change their minds.

So the Cougars, as expected, will play in the Independence Bowl Dec. 18 in Shreveport, La., against Alabama-Birmingham.

That BYU has gone 21-3 over the past two years and has played in two minor bowls is just more proof that moving to the Big 12 is marvelous.

I keep hearing about what a great relationship the Cougars have with ESPN, which owns a large portion of the bowl games. I think that relationship needs some counseling based on the bowl games BYU has played in the past two years.

Quote of the day

As Aaron Miller (@aaronmiller) posted on Twitter: “Mocking the better team because they didn’t get a P5-tie-in bowl feels like a kid bragging about his rich parents. Congrats on proving how dumb the system is.”

I have a thought

Many BYU fans – and national media – have been referring to the Cougars as the “De Facto Pac-12 Champions” after going 5-0 against teams from that conference. I’ve seen t-shirts and banners declaring this bit of smack talk, much to the dismay of Utah fans.

What about t-shirts that tout Kalani Sitake as “De Facto Pac-12 Coach of the Year?” (ducks as Utah fans start lobbing bombs at me on Twitter)

It’s a long season

It was a very difficult week for the BYU men’s basketball team, which started out earning its highest ranking (No. 12) this early in the year since the 1970s. A stunning loss at Utah Valley, which included a heartbreaking season-ending injury for Gavin Baxter, put the Cougars in a pretty big funk.

They battled hard at Missouri State and came out on top because of the great second half play by Alex Barcello and Te’Jon Lucas to move to 7-1 this season.

Mark Pope and his assistant coaches are currently in the process of re-inventing the team. Without Baxter and Richard Harward, who is still recovering from a cardiovascular issue, BYU is suddenly a very small, inexperienced group in the post. Going forward, we’ll see plenty of small lineups. There’s no way to replace Baxter’s defensive presence in the paint so the perimeter defense has to be better. There’s a colossal meeting at the Marriott Center this week with Utah State, which is off to a great start behind double-double machine Justin Bean.

Pro tip

If you’re working out on an exercise bike at the gym watching Netflix and your wireless headphones give out, tune to the show you’ve seen the most. That way when you read the closed captioning you can do it in your head in the familiar voices of your favorite characters.

Here again?

The consistency of the BYU women’s volleyball team is pretty stunning.

Heather Olmstead is bringing her squad to its sixth Sweet 16 in the seven years she’s been the head coach with a gritty 3-1 victory against rival Utah on Saturday in an absolutely packed Smith Fieldhouse. The Utes tried to shut down West Coast Conference Player of the Year Kenzie Koerber, a former Utah All-American who transferred to Provo this summer. Koerber only had six kills and pesky leg cramps slowed her down. Fortunately, Erin Livingston and Taylen Ballard-Nixon had terrific hitting matches.

The Cougars will play Purdue in the Sweet 16 and a win there would put BYU in the Elite Eight against the only team to put an “L’ on its record, No. 3 seed Pitt.

Still winning

Utah women’s basketball coach Lynne Roberts said it seems like she’s been trying to find ways to slow down Paisley Harding for 17 years. That’s obviously an exaggeration, but Harding, who is finally a senior, scored a career-high 33 points against the Utes in an 85-80 win on Saturday. She wasn’t a highly sought-after recruit out of Glacier Bay High School in Washington but I could see right away she had something to her game when she led the Cougars in floor burns her freshman season.

It was a pretty good week for Harding: Aside from scoring a career high she had the unique experience of watching her husband, former BYU player Connor Harding, get carried off the floor after Utah Valley upset the BYU men’s team on Wednesday.

Shaylee Gonzales added 22 points against the Utes as the No. 21 Cougars moved to 8-0 this season.

I’ve watched a lot of basketball over the years, and seeing Harding and Gonzales do their thing is pretty impressive.

Next up is a huge test at Oklahoma on Friday.

Bring it on, right Pais?

That’s all for now, but for this: Having a son and daughter in college reminds me that it’s just you, your laptop and your water bottle against the world during those years.

Good luck.

Have a tremendous week and try to make sure somebody else does, too.

Evan Cobb, Daily Herald

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