BYU nearly put a signature on its resume win Monday night after a frantic comeback attempt versus Arizona, but ultimately fell short versus the Wildcats.
BYU is 17-3 on the season and will safely be in the NCAA Tournament. BYU has four Quad 1 wins — all which have been on neutral floors — and the three losses are to teams ranked 1, 2, and 12 in the latest AP Poll. BYU’s resume is good, but BYU is going for great. There is ample opportunity ahead to improve the resume, beginning with a Quad 1A opportunity at Kansas Saturday.
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Resume Highlights and Analysis
BYU Record: 17-3
NET: 14
KenPom: 15
NET SOS: 33
Quad 1: 4-3
Quad 2: 4-0
Quad 3: 4-0
Quad 4: 5-0
BYU’s current four non-conference Q1 wins (Villanova, Wisconsin, Miami, Clemson) should hold up that way the entire season. Games against top NET 50 teams on a neutral floor are Quad 1 games, and those teams are ranked between 29 and 43 in NET.
Quad 1 games are versus a top 30 NET teams at home, top 50 teams on a neutral floor, and top 75 on the road. As it stands now, 9 of BYU’s final 11 games are Quad 1. Colorado on Valentine’s Day in Provo is a Quad 3 game and UCF in Provo in February is Quad 2.
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Not all Quad 1 games are created equal. Winning at Kansas (13 NET) is different than winning at Oklahoma State (72 NET) even though both are considered Quad 1. A Quad 1A game is considered a game versus a top 15 NET team at home, top 25 team on a neutral floor, and top 40 on the road. BYU likely will have four or five of those the remainder of the way — Kansas (A), Houston (H), Arizona (A), Iowa State (H), and Texas Tech (H) are the five likely opportunities. The UConn, Arizona, and Texas Tech games were BYU’s only Q1A games up to this point, and BYU lost all three.
No games are “must win” at this point, but a road win at Kansas would go a long ways in solidifying BYU’s resume for at least a top 4 seed and potentially a 2 or 3 seed if they can start rolling up the Quad 1 wins. Kansas is a top 15 team and hasn’t lost a home game this season. Tons of eyeballs will be on the game to watch AJ Dybantsa vs Darryn Peterson, and BYU can make a big impression on the committee with a win in Lawrence.
The top of college basketball is stacked this year. BYU is 15 in KenPom right now; their current KenPom ranking would be top 5 in the 2019-2020, 21-22, and 22-23 seasons. BYU needs high-end wins if they want to get in the upper echelon of seeding. Saturday at Kansas would ensure BYU has a signature win on the resume heading into February.
