I think every cougar fan is ready for BYU to finally win a tournament game. We could all certainly complain about the #8 seed, but that’s really no excuse for BYU to lose. Sure, a 5, 6 or 7 seed would probably be a little easier game. However, getting a #8 seed isn’t nearly as bad as when we should have gotten a #10 seed and got a #12 seed. At least we’re playing someone who is ranked below us. Now it’s time to show everyone that we should have been ranked higher. UNLV did a good job today representing the MWC. BYU needs to do the same.

It’s pretty easy to say that the second half is going to be important for BYU. We’ve been normally playing quite well in the first half and then just fall apart in the second half. I hope Lee gets a bunch of early second half touches. I think he’s going to be a hard match up for the Aggies.

A quick video analysis of the 2008 MWC conference finals matching BYU vs. UNLV.

Thanks to the nice blowout game I just experienced at the Thomas and Mack, I had to enjoy watching the game for other reasons. Everyone knows about Trent, Lee and JT or the big 3 as there sometimes called. Certainly it’s a promising trio for the future assuming Trent doesn’t leave for the NBA. However, a few other things have really been quite unexpected this season:

-Burgess attacking the basket is a thing of beauty. He has a quick first step and is a strong finisher. I love seeing him blow by someone and go hard to the basket.
-Jimmer is as promising a guard as BYU has had. I love his scorer mentality and he’s provided a number of big lifts as a freshman. Many more good things to come from him.
-Archie Rose phenomenon. Try asking a BYU fan why we love Archie Rose and I think you’ll find them speechless. I don’t know why he’s so loved, but I get as excited as anyone seeing him on the floor. Especially with his new mask.
-Chris Miles. Chis always had the length, but I think everyone was surprised that he played better in the first UNLV game than Trent did. Showed me some real signs of promise. Today at the game I was able to be down close and Chis is looking pretty beefy. He’s not the same stick that he was before that could easily be pushed around. I was scared Chris would be a shorter Shawn Bradley. After today I think Chris has a very bright future at BYU.

The ESPN Game Flow Chart pretty much says everything about the BYU and Air Force game tonight.

Too bad so many sweet sounding plays couldn’t be seen on any station. It should have at least been on BYUTV. BYU needs to do something with this contract.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief that BYU was able to pull out the 45th home win in a row against the hated Yewts. Games against the Yewts are always way too close for comfort and painful to watch. Well, at least until BYU wins. Unfortunately, not many people saw it because our beloved TV partners decided to show it on the MTN instead of CSTV or Versus. Even BYU TV would have been 100 times better than the MTN. Dick Harmon described the shows that showed on CSTV and Versus as opposed to BYU vs. Utah:

Versus showed “Wildcats,” a 1986 movie staring Goldie Hawn and Nipsey Russell from 7 to 9 p.m. After that, Versus chose to show Stage 3 of the “Tour of California, which may have been a repeat.

CSTV — which chose to air a fine blowout of Utah’s over BYU women’s basketball on Tuesday night to a national audience — on Wednesday aired a One2One sports highlight show on the career of Doug Williams from 8 to 8:30 p.m.

From 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., right in the critical part of the Ute-Cougar battle, CSTV aired a repeat of a Memphis-Tulane basketball that aired earlier. By the way, Memphis won the game 97-71 the second time around also.

Ok, I could see Versus telling us to shove it if it was the Tour de France, but some old school movie and the Tour of California? It’s amazing the choices these stations have made. Too bad we’re stuck, because my guess is that almost nothing can be done about it now.

On a higher note, I think we saw the future of BYU in Jimmer Fredette. Finally a guard at BYU that can make shots for himself, drive the lane and hit a 3. Not to mention how well he’s matured over the year. Let’s just hope he steps up and plays just as well in the NCAA tournament. Yes, they’re going to the tournament. The only question now is whether we can keep the winning ways going and get a decent seed in the tournament. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

UPDATE: Looks like the AD at San Diego State says that there’s a deal between the MTN and DirectTV. Too bad the MWC office and BYU’s Assitant AD say they haven’t heard anything. I expect this means a deal is close to done. Will this deal push other cable networks and Dish Network to get on board too?

I think we’ve all been thankful to have Lee Cummard on the team this year. He’s been better than I ever would have expected. The most consistent player by far. I guess that’s why I enjoyed a recent Trib article about Lee that included the following quotes which left me laughing:

“He loves his body,” his wife, Sarah said. “He thinks he has the most rocking body in the whole world and the biggest muscles. He has told me a few times he has the best body on campus, so he is definitely not lacking for confidence there.”

Cummard, 22, has a deal with BYU strength coach Justin McClure if Cummard tips the scales at 190 pounds, he never has to wear a shirt in the weight room again.

“I am real close,” Cummard said with a sly grin. “Maybe this summer, but I have never been afraid to show off the guns.”

I think we all hope that Lee will put on a few pounds. Looks like Justin is using some good motivational techniques to get him there.

I’m so happy that tomorrow we can all enjoy the BYU basketball game against Michigan St. It’s going to be a great match up between #20 and #9 in the nation and broadcast to BYU fans around the world on BYU TV.

The best part is it looks like it was suppose to be on Versus, but BYU basically stuck it to them. Here’s what it said on the BYU Athletics site:

BYU controls the live television broadcast rights to the game and had offered live nationwide broadcast rights to Versus and BYUTV, and local broadcast rights to KJZZ Channel 14. BYU received notice Thursday that Versus has decided not to air the game.

“We are excited for the opportunity to air the BYU-Michigan State game nationally on BYU Television,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “Our goal is to continue to find ways to broadcast live sporting events to our fans across the United States and throughout the world. We appreciate the long-standing relationship we’ve enjoyed with BYUTV.”

Many could argue that playing on BYU TV will mean that recruits won’t see BYU play. However, I just can’t believe that recruits are more likely to find BYU playing on Versus than BYU TV. It’s a wash in my book. Not to mention BYU playing on BYU TV is going to mean that a ton of Michigan State fans are going to learn about BYU TV. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Most importantly, I’m just glad to see a ranked cougar team matching up against the third top 10 basketball team this year. These match ups can’t do anything but help us come March.

The MWC’s deal with CSTV has been absolutely ridiculous. The tv coverage for football has been horrible. All of that said, I have to give BYU a little credit for already getting a couple BYU basketball games streamed free on BYU TV. The online stream of BYU vs. Portland just started and the previous BYU TV coverage of Louisville was great too.

I wonder how much it would cost for BYU TV to purchase coverage for all of BYU sports games. It would be interesting to find out and see if BYU fans could put together enough donations to make it happen. Ok, so I understand that won’t get exposure to recruits, would never happen, etc etc etc. That doesn’t mean we can’t still dream about watching BYU sports.

At least we can enjoy BYU basketball streamed on BYU TV tonight.

I’m sure that most BYU fans are focusing on the BYU vs. Utah game tomorrow, but true BYU sports fans have been anticipating the Thanksgiving holiday weekend full of great BYU sports games. Tonight BYU men’s basketball will face #6 Louisville at the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational. Here’s an excerpt from the Desert Morning News describing BYU heading into this game:

A 4-0 record, a team scoring 90-plus points a game and a 31-point margin of victory — BYU would love to continue its torrid start and gaudy results, but the Cougars know the level of competition takes a steep spike as they face No. 6 Louisville tonight.

Sounds like an exciting game. An undefeated BYU team that’s been scoring points like crazy and meeting a highly ranked opponent. The only thing more we could ask for is one of those 4 previous wins to have been against ranked opponents and not cellar dwellers.

Living in Las Vegas I was excited to see BYU play a quality opponent (yes, I don’t count UNLV as a quality opponent). I checked the Orleans arena website to find out about ticket prices and was shown that I’d need to spend $91 for the entire 2 day tournament. Are you kidding me? I read on and it tells me that they aren’t selling individual tickets either. Are they serious? First the CSTV broadcasting deal and now $91 to see a game.

Ok, so I might not mind spending that much money since hopefully BYU will win and get to play North Carolina tomorrow. However, a bunch of my extended family is visiting for the holidays and they wouldn’t even consider going to one game at that price. Not to mention, the BYU vs. Utah game is tomorrow and if BYU loses tonight, then am I really going to pass up BYU vs. Utah to go and see BYU vs. Old Dominion?

Well, thank goodness that somehow BYUTV has the rights to broadcast the game tonight. Should be a lot of fun to grab a piece of delicious pumpkin pie and watch the game. Although, I’d much rather be at the game screaming my heart out. Just not at $91 a head.

I found this video on a BYU sports message board with the title “Greatest BYU Dunk Ever.” While this is an impressive dunk, I seem to remember it being even bigger when I watched it live. I’m not sure if it’s the low quality youtube video or what. More importantly, is this the greatest BYU dunk ever? I think that unfortunately it might be. I seem to remember one from Trent that should be up there. Honestly, I’m just happy any time someone from BYU dunks. It’s too rare of an occurrence.

Here’s what could be the best dunk on BYU by Marcus Slaughter.