BYU basketball is going dancing.
The only questions are where and with who?
As the bracket math starts to solidify, the general consensus at the moment is that BYU is around a 5-seed. That can change. The Cougars still have a game remaining before the Big 12 tournament. But a five- or six-seed is reasonable to expect.
With that, the likely first-round locations are Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Pittsburgh and Omaha.
A hometown game at the Delta Center would be ideal for BYU. The Cougars would likely need a five-seed at the minimum to secure geographical preference. A four- or three-seed would go a long way.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has BYU in Salt Lake as a five-seed. He has BYU playing Grand Canyon, a dangerous team out of the WAC, in the first round. The four-seed would be Illinois. So, even if Lunardi has BYU at home, it would be a difficult draw.
CBS Sports also has BYU on the five-seed line in Salt Lake. It has the Cougars facing Grand Canyon again. But in a twist, BYU would get San Diego State as the four-seed. Those two team played in November, with BYU beating the Aztecs in the Marriott Center.
Bracketologist Mike DeCourcy has BYU playing as a five-seed in the East region. The pairing would be against Princeton — the NCAA Tournament darling last year — and Auburn as the four-seed.
USA Today is the outlier, predicting BYU will travel to Spokane as a five-seed. It would get Grand Canyon and Kentucky in its pod.
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