Why BYU women’s basketball’s road games this week are especially important

BYU guard Paisley Harding, middle, celebrates a play throughout the Cougars’ 70-48 win over San Diego on the Marriott Heart in Provo on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. BYU performs a pair of vital street video games this week at Portland and Gonzaga, video games that might influence the Cougars’ NCAA event seeding.

Matthew Norton, BYU photograph

BYU ladies’s basketball’s success so far within the 2021-22 season — an 18-1 report and a No. 16 nationwide rating, tied for finest in class historical past — has raised expectations.

The Cougars have the possibility to lift the bar once more this weekend, as they go on the street to face their two greatest challengers within the West Coast Convention and attempt to make an excellent higher impression with the NCAA Match choice committee.

BYU’s schedule this weekend

BYU at Portland

• Thursday, 6 p.m. MST
• Stream: WCC Community

BYU at Gonzaga

• Saturday, 3 p.m. MST
• Stream: WCC Community, SWX Sports activities

About Portland: The Pilots at present sit third within the WCC standings with a 3-2 league report — their two losses each got here towards Gonzaga, by a mean of 10 factors — and are 13-4 general.

BYU was initially scheduled to host Portland on Jan. 1, however that recreation was postponed on account of COVID-19 points.

Portland can be the WCC’s third-highest ranked group within the NCAA’s NET rankings, at No. 63. BYU comes into the matchup No. 12 within the NET rankings.

About Gonzaga: Each BYU (8-0) and Gonzaga (7-0) are undefeated in WCC play proper now, and the winner of this recreation will take the higher hand within the league’s regular-season race.

The Zags are at present No. 28 within the NET rankings, and are on a six-game profitable streak. They are going to host Pacific on Thursday earlier than the BYU matchup.

This would be the first of two regular-season video games between the faculties — the Cougars host Gonzaga on Feb. 19. It’s been a aggressive sequence — over the previous three seasons, the Cougars and Zags have break up eight matchups. Over the previous 5 years, the Bulldogs personal a 7-5 sequence edge.

What’s at stake for BYU

A sweep this weekend would maintain the Cougars answerable for the WCC regular-season championship race.

There’s much more at stake for BYU, although.

Whereas the Cougars have cruised so far in convention play — they’ve gained their eight league video games by a mean of 28.2 factors — and personal a handful of strong nonconference wins, it’s clear they've extra to do to enhance their postseason seeding.

Final week, the NCAA choice committee launched its first of three prime 16 rankings, which give an perception to which groups are in line to earn a prime 4 seed within the NCAA Match and host first- and second-round video games. Regardless of its report and then-top 10 NET rating, BYU was not included within the NCAA’s preliminary prime 16 rankings.

For the Cougars to have any probability of a prime 4 seed, they’ll probably must win out. Gonzaga and Portland signify probably the most spectacular wins the Cougars can choose up in WCC play, significantly the Zags, an NCAA event common in latest seasons.

Previous to NCAA’s first prime 16 rankings popping out, ESPN had BYU as a No. 3 seed in its bracketology. Now, the Cougars are a No. 5 within the newest ESPN bracketology, with a possible second-round matchup on the street at Oregon.

The NCAA will launch prime 16 rankings two different occasions this season — on Feb. 10 and Feb. 28 — earlier than the NCAA Match bracket is revealed on Choice Sunday, March 13.