Marriott Center remains an obstacle in BYU hoops scheduling

Even though some criticize BYU’s basketball schedule, coach Dave Rose says repeatedly that he’ll play any team in the country who agrees to a home-and-home deal. It’s common knowledge now that big-name schools want to avoid a game at the Marriott Center, so such deals are difficult for Rose to come by. So, on occasion, he has to be flexible, which seems to be the case with a deal with the PAC-10 Arizona Wildcats.
According to the Arizona Daily Star, BYU will play the Wildcats on Dec. 28 in Tucson. But the return game? The Star claims it will be played in 2010 at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake. Here’s a little clip from the Star’s article.
“Arizona managed to avoid a true return game to the Cougars’ feared Marriott Center.”
It’s not just us local folks who are confirming that visiting coaches want to avoid the Marriott Center. It looks like the Cougars’ strong home-court advantage is going to be a tough obstacle to overcome in scheduling for a long time.