Where BYU Basketball Goes From Here, 3/4/2011

Two "Easy" Games
BYU has two games in which they can get their act together.  BYU gets Wyoming on Saturday.  Wyoming is the type of team that always looks like the product that BYU put out on Wednesday night against New Mexico.  In fact, as bad as BYU was, that may have been superior to anything Wyoming has put out in the past two months.  So BYU should win, and have a good opportunity figure out a rotation and get some things figured out offensively.  BYU gets to follow that up, assuming it is a win (Mo predicts BYU 84, Wyoming 61), with the winner of the 8/9 play-in game in the MWC Tournament.  That is either Wyoming or TCU, which should be another easy win. 

Rematch with Lobos is Best Possible Scenario
If BYU hasn't figured it out by then, the two games following that will be brutal for the Cougars: CSU or New Mexico followed by an NCAA Tournament game.  But if BYU does have some things figured out by then, BYU may end up with a golden opportunity.  9 days after the debacle in Provo, BYU could get a rematch with New Mexico.  BYU would have a very direct opportunity to make a statement to the Selection Committee: the team that played on 3/2/2011 against New Mexico is not the BYU team that will play in the NCAA Tournament.  Of course, they would have to actually beat New Mexico, and perhaps even by double digits, to make that statement.

Seeding
With 3 straight wins, including a rematch with New Mexico, BYU could still lose in the MWC Final and garner a 2-seed.  Anything less than that and it may be a 3-seed, or perhaps even as low as a 4.  Jerry Palm has BYU as a 4-seed right now.  That is probably about right as of today, but BYU can prove that they are better than they played on Wednesday night.  That is all they have to do to get back to the 2/3 line.  As I have said before: I believe they will prove that, because I believe they are better.  I believe they will still "earn" a 2-seed by pulling out 3 consecutive wins.  Though perhaps that is just the Cougar fan in Michael, and not the objective blogger in Mo...