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BYU Mascot Cosmo, center, poses for a photo with students during a Big 12 men's basketball game against Texas in the Marriott Center on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU and Texas battle in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU forward Lauren Gustin (12) looks to shoot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas State Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Manhattan, Kan.

Charlie Riedel, AP Photo

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BYU offensive linemen prepare to run a play during the 26-17 Cougar win over the Utes at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. (Courtesy Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo)

Jaren Wilkey/BYU

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BYU defenders make a tackle during the Big 12 game against Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Daily Herald sports writers Darnell Dickson and Jared Lloyd give their opinions on the hot BYU sports topics this week:

1. There was quite a bit of attention given to BYU students on the front row at the Marriott Center being asked to remove T-shirts that spelled out “Horns Down” at Saturday’s Cougar men’s basketball game against Texas on Saturday. Was that the right move?

DICKSON: Quick story.

I had a JV basketball coach (Jay Monier) that was a real prankster. We arrived at Lakeview High School in Oregon after a long road trip and started warming up. Lakeview had a big board on the wall with the names and numbers of both teams. Coach Monier walked over to the Lakeview coach and told him, “The boys have been talking about it and they would really appreciate it if you would take down No. 34, Mike Gianotti, from the board. He’s … no longer with us.” Gianotti had quit the team but Coach Monier was clearly insinuating that he had died. Of course the other coach apologized profusely, sent for a ladder and a janitor and took the name and number down. When I lined up for the center jump the Lakeview player next to me said, “Man, sorry your teammate died.” We had no idea Coach Monier had done this until later, so I was pretty confused.

Anyway, here’s my point: Are we sure that Texas coach Rodney Terry isn’t trolling everybody? Or are the Longhorns so self-absorbed that they are truly offended by “Horns Down?” It’s so ridiculous I have a hard time believing it’s for real.

As for BYU’s part in this and Mark Pope addressing it in the postgame, I understand. With the history of the church, BYU doesn’t want to appear intolerant in any way, even if it’s something as stupid as “Horns Down.” It’s been going on for years but Texas has made such a big deal about it Pope decided to take the high road.

Certainly, BYU has endured much harsher and vulgar treatment over the years, but has learned to deal with it. Perhaps Texas needs a little bit thicker skin, especially since the school is going to the Southeastern Conference next season.

LLOYD: Darnell, you used the right term to define this whole conversation: Ridiculous.

Teams that get excited about hand signs like Texas’s horns or Utah’s U have to know that opposing players and fans are going to mock them by flipping those symbols upside down when said team isn’t doing well.

Are such actions silly, petty and immature? Sure.

Do they impact the outcome of a game? I doubt it.

If a team’s discipline is so fragile that seeing “horns down” or the equivalent is going to make it struggle to execute, said team has bigger problems to deal with.

But I applaud BYU for choosing the high road on this issue instead of just doing what others do. I hope the university continues to do so because everyone deserves respect.

Look, in order to have major college athletic contests, you need someone to be the opponent, just like you need referees and scoreboard operators. And no, none of those groups will ever be perfect in actions or behavior.

But it should be the expectation to treat them with class and dignity, even for college students.

2. What grade do you give BYU men’s hoops for its performance in January and what do you expect the Cougars to do in February?

LLOYD: The challenge of this question is determining what grading scale you are using.

Based on preseason expectations, BYU definitely deserves an A. The Cougars rallied from a tough season in 2022-23 to win three of seven games in the best league in the country. Four months ago, many probably speculated BYU would be lucky to win one.

But if you base it on what the Cougars did in the preseason and how close they were to being a lot better, I think you would probably have to give BYU a C-. The team hasn’t been bad but failure to close out games strong and two home losses can’t be ignored.

So I guess I’ll combine the two and give the Cougars a B-.

I just think we’ve seen glimpses that this team can be better than it was in January and that’s where my expectations are going into February. I want to see progress from BYU, particularly since on the surface it a appears the schedule will be slightly easier.

DICKSON: I would say a solid “B.” I’ve taken some online criticism for being hard on the Cougars at times during Big 12 Conference play. The loss at home to Cincinnati was particularly troubling and blowing a 17-point lead at Texas Tech was, well bad.

I do think BYU is learning the kind of attention to detail and effort it takes to win consistently in this league. It’s way different than the West Coast Conference, where the Cougars were pretty much favored in every game except Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

I think defending the home court is incredibly important, which is why the loss to Cincinnati was so harmful. Getting a road win at UCF was important.

As for February, its still a difficult schedule but I could see BYU getting a couple of road wins and moving up in the standings. It takes a very consistent effort to do that and I see signs that the Cougars are getting better.

3. If you are BYU head women’s basketball coach Amber Whiting, what do you take away from seeing your team lose by two on the road at No. 4-ranked Kansas State?

DICKSON: The first thing to understand is that Kansas State’s best player, 6-foot-6 Ayoka Lee, was out with an ankle injury against BYU. Lee averages 19.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game and would have been a problem for the Cougars undersized roster.

Regardless, going on the road in Manhattan and having a chance to beat the Wildcats is a very good sign for this team. Kansas State chose to single cover Lauren Gustin and she went for 25 points and 21 rebounds, so it was good for her to have that kind of monster game.

I also was encouraged that freshman Ali’a Matavao played almost nine minutes. She really needs more playing time and that will give BYU a little more depth as the head into the meat the Big 12 schedule. The Cougars should take a lot of confidence moving forward.

LLOYD: While Kansas State certainly missed Ayoka Lee, it should be noted that BYU was also without their sixth player, Lauren Davenport, who averages over 20 minutes per game. They could’ve used her six points per game, certainly.

If I’m Whiting, I liked the fact that I finally got to see my team coalesce to battle an elite opponent toe-to-toe on its home court. I’m encouraged that our squad had three chances to tie the game in the final seconds.

But I would want more.

I would want fewer than 17 turnovers, particularly the traveling calls. I would want to improve on the 60% foul shooting (6-of-10) and to find ways to get to the line more often. I would want better defensive footwork and fewer than 20 fouls.

I think Whiting should be glad to see the growth of her squad highlighted on a big stage, but she should also be clear to those athletes that they aren’t near their ceiling yet.

4. The Big 12 officially announced its football schedule for fall 2024 this week and the return of the BYU-Utah rivalry matchup will take place on Nov. 9. What do you think about the timing of the in-state clash?

LLOYD: This game is going to be the biggest sporting event in the state of Utah in 2024 and I don’t think it’s close. Initially I was surprised by the timing in early November, but as I thought about it if the Cougars and Utes are both really good, they could meet in the Big 12 championship a month later instead a week later. Yes, that is extremely unlikely, but strange things happen in the Big 12.

Since both teams will be coming off a bye week, that advantage is negated. It just means both BYU and Utah will likely be healthier and rustier (Cougar fans certainly saw the rust highlighted after the bye week in 2023).

As a side note, I’m curious if my perception of the now-dying Pac-12 as a weak football league overall in recent years will be fortified or diminished by how Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado do this fall.

Yes, in 2023 Arizona beat a decent Oklahoma team in the Alamo Bowl, Colorado edged a mediocre TCU team to start the year and Utah barely escaped with a win over a bad Baylor team, while Arizona State lost to Oklahoma State … but these teams didn’t face Big 12 competition week in and week out.

I just don’t think there were as many easy games in the Big 12 as there were in the Pac-12, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe those new teams will come in and be successful. We’ll find out this fall.

DICKSON: I would prefer a Thanksgiving week game for BYU-Utah, but I don’t think the earlier November game is a bad thing.

For the first time since 1953, both teams will come into the rivalry game off a bye week, so they should be healthy and rested. I kind of dread the two week build-up but I guess I can live with it. Playing as league foes makes this game so much better with more at stake than just bragging rights.

I also think about how much the Big 12 is changing. With eight new teams in the league (BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF in 2023 along with Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State in 2024) and Texas and Oklahoma leaving, there is a big opportunity to establish rivalries. Not manufactured ones like Utah-Colorado but real ones.

Can BYU-Utah overtake matchups such as Kansas-Kansas State or Baylor-TCU as the key rivalry game in the Big 12?

5. Other than the Utah game, what Cougar football game do you have circled on the 2024 schedule?

DICKSON: I’m really focused on BYU’s Big 12 opener against Kansas State on Sept. 21. The Wildcats are always a contender in the league and this game will tell us a lot about where the Cougars are in 2024.

Playing two out of three on the road in preseason is not ideal but we really won’t know what we’re going to be dealing with until BYU gets into Big 12 play. Establishing a good home field advantage and a big win to open league play would be a great place to start for Kalani Sitake.

LLOYD: It’s challenging to pick out just one because with the evolution of the Big 12, there is a lot of uncertainty about just who is going to be good.

Darnell’s selection of the Kansas State game is a good one because it has both an opponent who could be near the top of the standings and it is the conference opener. But I’m going to take one that is a little later in the season.

I’ll select the game that is still up in the air as far as the date: Oklahoma State in Provo. Whether the game will be played on Friday night or Saturday doesn’t really matter but what does matter is this could be a statement game.

BYU will have already hosted Kansas State and Arizona with a trip to Baylor. Last year’s overtime loss after the Cougars blew a big lead in Stillwater, Okla.,  kept BYU from being bowl eligible. The Cowboys reached the Big 12 title game and could be on a similar trajectory again.

I think all those factors set up for that to be a great barometer of how much the Cougars have improved in their second year in the league.