Will BYU Make An NCAA Run? College Basketball World Weighs In
Mar 18, 2025, 1:28 PM | Updated: 1:29 pm
DENVER – BYU is a dark horse pick among college basketball analysts to make a run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars received a No. 6 seed in the East Region and will open the “Big Dance” in Denver on Thursday against No. 11 seed VCU.
.@BYUMBB is a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament 👀🤙 pic.twitter.com/UtOBRTDwol
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 16, 2025
BYU has not played in the Round of 32 since 2011, when Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery were holding it down in BYU’s backcourt.
It’s well-documented how much BYU has struggled over the years in the NCAA Tournament. They hold the record for most NCAA Tournament bids without a Final Four appearance.
But this is a new era at BYU under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin Young. Could he lead BYU to a deep run?
National college basketball analysts and writers shared their thoughts on BYU in preparation for March Madness.
ESPN College Basketball analysts Jay Bilas, Jay Williams, and Seth Greenberg weigh in on BYU
Moments after the bracket was revealed, ESPN held a Bracketology special from Nashville, Tennessee with Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Bilas.
They all weighed in on BYU during a breakdown of the East region.
“BYU-VCU, that’s going to be a great game because VCU forces turnovers,” Jay Bilas said on ESPN’s Bracketology. “…BYU is interesting because almost half of their field goals are threes. Richie Saunders, outstanding shooter, he’s made 74 threes, and his great grandfather invented the tater tot.”
“Egor Demin plays for them and leads the team in assists, as well,” said ESPN’s Jay Williams. “With their floor spacing, even if they get to Wisconsin, they could find themselves in the Sweet 16.”
“What about style of play? They can impose their style of play and get that game up and down and spread the court,” said ESPN’s Seth Greenberg. “Now they get the paint kicks and kicking out, knocking down threes. They can make 10, 12, 14, 16 threes in a game.”
CBS Sports analyst and analytics expert see BYU reaching the second weekend
CBS Sports senior writer and analyst Matt Norlander shared predictions for his entire bracket. He has BYU reaching the Sweet 16 before falling to the No. 2 seed Alabama Crimson Tide.
Along with Norlander, CBS Sports’ analytics analyst Mackenzie Brooks picks BYU to reach the Elite Eight.
CBS Sports Betting Analyst @kenzbrooksbets shares her entire bracket in less than a minute ⚡️
Fill out your bracket here: https://t.co/Frw8IaKYoC pic.twitter.com/ADYM5V9XPp
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 17, 2025
Seth Davis doubles down on BYU basketball reaching the Elite Eight
Moments after the East region was unveiled on the CBS Selection Sunday show, CBS analyst Seth Davis made a comment that BYU could reach the Elite Eight.
He doubled down on that comment during an Instagram Live via his website, Hoops HQ.
Seth Davis on BYU: "I actually think BYU has enough to get to the Elite Eight."
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 16, 2025
“I don’t know how dark they are, but I like BYU,” Davis said. “They’re in that very high-powered offensive bracket with Duke, Arizona, Wisconsin, Alabama, so I know they’ve got a tough one [in the first round]. VCU in that first game, so that’s a big-time challenge. They’re gonna get guarded. BYU has a toughness about them that we’re not used to seeing with BYU. I’ve got them in the Elite Eight.”
A little snippet from today’s IG live with @SethDavisHoops, can @BYUMBB make a run? pic.twitter.com/o2FpQyEhaV
— Hoops HQ (@hhqsports) March 17, 2025
Former Final Four coach Tom Crean could see BYU potentially giving problems to Duke
During ESPN2’s Bracketology breakdown, former Marquette and Indiana head coach Tom Crean was asked if there’s a team that could be a challenger to Duke.
Crean pointed to BYU and No. 3 seed Wisconsin as potential threats.
The former head coach was an analyst during BYU’s road win at Colorado earlier this season. So he’s watched the Cougars in person this year.
“I’m still riding with Duke, but I’m also going to look at another one. If BYU gets by VCU, and if Wisconsin matches up with BYU, these are two teams that will give problems to anybody, even Duke,” said ESPN analyst and former coach Tom Crean.
“Richie Saunders, phenomenal. This is an 11-deep team. Egor Demin has been fantastic as a freshman. They had a tough game against Houston. But they went into Iowa State and won there. Fouss Traore and Keba Keita are phenomenal as bookend forwards. They look the same body-wise, wide shoulders, look like defensive ends, they can guard, and they can come outside and guard.”
College Basketball analyst Andy Katz has BYU advancing to the Elite Eight
NCAA.com reporter Andy Katz had BYU advancing to the Elite Eight in his bracket, before falling to No. 1 Duke.
Andy Katz's bracket!
Auburn 🏆
Maryland 👉 Final Four 🐢
Three 10-seeds win their first game 👀Don't forget to get YOUR bracket in too: https://t.co/EDKsOdCAFv#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/8RtcdVAFrZ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2025
ESPN’s Sean Farnham sees turnovers as the concern for BYU
Mr. CougarTail himself, Sean Farnham, shared some of his thoughts during ESPN2’s Bracketology special on a potential concern he has for BYU that could hurt their chances of making a run in the NCAA Tournament.
“Turnovers have been a big problem for them all season long, and when they lose games, they’re loose with the ball,” said ESPN analyst Sean Farnham. “Egor Demin, at times, has had to sit down. At Arizona, they went to Dallin Hall because Dallin Hall is more efficient with the basketball than Egor Demin is, and that would be my concern in this matchup against VCU.”
BYU vs. VCU
First Round – 2025 NCAA Tournament
Location: Denver, Colorado
Arena: Ball Arena
Tip-Off: 2:05 p.m. (MDT)
TV: TNT
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM in Utah)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
