Dancing time: BYU earns No. 6 seed, will play in Portland for NCAA Tourney
-
- BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, center, celebrates with guard Robert Wright III, right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Utah, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Provo, Utah.
-
- BYU men’s basketball head coach Kevin Young signals in a play during a Big 12 game against Colorado at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.
-
- BYU’s AJ Dybantsa (3) reacts with teammates Dominique Diomande (24) and Aleksej Kostić (6) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against West Virginia in the second round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.
For the third straight season since joining the Big 12, the BYU men’s basketball team is going dancing.
The Cougars are a No. 6 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and will play in Portland at the Moda Center against the winner of a First Four game between Texas and North Carolina State, a pair of No. 11 seeds. The Longhorns (18-14) finished tenth in the Southeastern Conference and the Wolfpack (20-13) ended up tied for seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The last time the Cougars were in a similar situation was in 2021, when they played First Four winner UCLA. The Bruins won 73-62 and went on to reach the Final Four.
If BYU gets past its first round opponent, the matchup could be against the NO. 3 seed and former West Coast Conference nemesis Gonzaga (30-3).
Kevin Young is the third BYU coach to take his first two teams to the NCAA Tournament, joining Roger Reid (1990, 1991) and Stan Watts (1950, 1951).
BYU (23-11) rose as high as No. 7 in the Associated Press poll and started 16-1. Since then, the Cougars have gone 7-10 and lost senior leader Richie Saunders to an ACL injury on Valentine’s Day in the Marriott Center in a game against Colorado.
BYU gained some momentum with an 82-76 victory against then-No. 10 Texas Tech in the Big 12 regular-season finale and scored decisive victories against Kansas State (105-91) and West Virginia (68-48) in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cougars lost to No. 2 seed Houston 73-66 in the quarterfinals.
BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, the likely No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft, leads the country in scoring with 25.3 points per game.
The Cougars made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed in 2024 under Mark Pope, falling in an upset to No. 11 Duchesne 71-67 in Omaha. Last season, again as a No. 6 seed, BYU defeated VCU and Wisconsin in Denver to advance to the Sweet 16, where No. 2 seed Alabama made an NCAA Tournament record 25 3-pointers in a 113-88 Cougar loss.
BYU will be playing in their 33rd NCAA Tournament, the most appearances by any program that has not made a Final Four. The Cougars have a 16-35 record in NCAA Tournament games.
Utah State (28-6), which won both the Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament titles, is a No. 9 seed and will play No. 1 seed Arizona in San Diego on Friday.
Utah Valley (25-8) missed out on its first NCAA Tournament bid when it suffered a heartbreaking 63-61 loss to Cal Baptist in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament title game late Saturday night. The Wolverines will likely be invited to play in the National Invitational Tournament.
