With consensus No. 1 overall recruit AJ Dybantsa committing to BYU, the Cougars will likely garner more nationwide attention in 2025 than ever before.
Playing in some marquee matchups definitely won’t hurt, either.
According to a Friday report from CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein, BYU has been scheduled to face Villanova on opening night of the 2025-26 regular season.
The game will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with Dybantsa making his collegiate debut in front of a national television audience.
The Cougars have played Villanova three times in program history, but not since 1984, when Timo Saarelainen, Andy Toolson and company fell 91-61 to the Wildcats.
Villanova is widely considered to be a “blue blood” program, having made seven Final Four appearances and winning national championships in 1985, 2016 and 2018.
But the Wildcats are a rather mediocre 43-37 under Kyle Neptune since 2022, making it a real possibility that they will be led by a new head coach by the time they face BYU in Las Vegas.
This Cougars-Wildcats clash likely won’t be the only notable showdown for Kevin Young’s squad next year.
Per Robby McCombs of Vanquish the Foe, “There has been interest from ESPN to schedule (a game between) BYU and Duke on a neutral floor,” and it can be assumed that the Cougars will have their first home-and-home with powerhouse Kansas in Big 12 play.