BYU in the Final Four?

What are BYU’s chances to rack up a few wins in this year’s NCAA tournament? Well, according to Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel, the Cougars should be taken seriously despite their No. 7 seed. Mandel picked BYU to reach the Final Four as his Cinderella team.

Here’s a link to his article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/03/14/breaking.bracket/index.html?eref=sihp

Mandel’s prediction could be taken as a sign that the national media recognizes BYU as a legitimate contender, or it could just show that he’s ignorant of the team’s recent history in March Madness. Any realistic Cougar fan would be happy to see the team simply get out of the first round, which BYU hasn’t done in seven tries since 1992.

On the surface, the Cougars got a favorable draw that gives them a path to home court advantage if – and that’s a big if – they can get through the first two rounds. Most bracketologists predicted BYU would be no less than a No. 6 seed, but by falling to a No. 7 the Cougars will have the chance to play a practical home game in Salt Lake City if they were to reach the Sweet Sixteen. To do this they’d have to beat Florida, which was lucky to get in as the final at-large team added by the selection committee, and (more than likely) Kansas State, which spent much of the year ranked in the top 10 and finished at No. 9 in both major polls.

Doable? Certainly. Probable? Not likely.

BYU’s first-round track record shows that Florida might be the team with the lucky draw, but if there was a year that the stars are aligning for a deep tournament run by the Cougars, this seems like it might be it.