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Having received seven of its final eight video games, together with final Saturday’s 78-65 victory over Portland, BYU is on the verge of cracking The Related Press High 25 ballot once more.
The Cougars (17-4, 5-1) moved up one place to No. 26, one spot exterior the highest 25 when the newest rankings had been revealed Monday morning.
BYU rose as excessive as No. 12 in late November earlier than shedding to Utah Valley College after which dropped out of the rankings in mid-December following a loss to Creighton.
In the meantime, the Cougars are at present No. 25 within the NCAA NET rankings, which have extra affect on their NCAA Event standing.
In response to the metrics, BYU is in nice place relative to the Large Dance.
The Cougars are considered one of solely 4 groups nationally with a minimum of 4 Quad 1 wins and a minimum of 4 Quad 2 wins, together with No. 1 Auburn, No. 5 Kansas and No. 11 Wisconsin. And they're considered one of simply three groups with a minimum of 16 wins, a top-50 KenPom top-25 adjusted offense and adjusted protection rating, and a top-25 energy of schedule, together with Auburn and Kansas.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Cougars as a No. 8 seed in his newest projections.
How a lot does being ranked within the AP ballot, in comparison with different metrics, matter to coach Mark Pope?
“I do care in regards to the prime 25 personally as a result of it’s the notion, the media/public driving notion of this system. It may not be factual and it is likely to be biased, however I need individuals to be biased for BYU. I simply do,” Pope stated. “It's a element of your program. I need individuals to consider BYU, like, ‘That’s an actual program.’
“There are some locations the place the AP High 25 is so completely different from the metrics. That’s the distinction between the numbers, the information and the sensation,” he continued. “If I had to decide on one, I might select the information each single time. Nevertheless it’s additionally necessary to me that individuals take into consideration this program the way in which it truly is. This can be a particular place and what our guys are doing is absolutely particular. I do care in regards to the public notion of this program loads.”
If BYU finishes within the prime 25 of the ultimate AP ballot this season, it might mark the Cougars’ third straight top-25 end. That’s by no means occurred in program historical past.
“That’s what we’re attempting to do,” Pope stated of the rankings. “We’re attempting to do it constantly. It’s necessary.”
Guard Te’Jon Lucas appreciates the validation of being ranked within the prime 25, however he additionally is aware of that’s not the main focus.
“We take note of it a bit bit. In fact, you wish to be ranked. It’s at all times a great factor to have that quantity by you whenever you’re taking part in,” he stated. “It’s cool but it surely’s not one thing we will measure our success off of. The last word objective is to win video games and get to the NCAA Event. But when we will get into that prime 25, that simply offers us one other milestone that we’ve accomplished.
“Our guys know what it takes to be within the prime 25 and that’s to proceed to win video games and all the things else will deal with itself. … We don’t actually care if we’re ranked or not. However on the finish of the day, it’s positively one thing that’s good for us. Our principal objective is to win video games.”