In over a century of basketball, 3,141 games, BYU has toppled the nation’s No. 1 ranked team only once.
Monday, with Arizona (20-0) at the Marriott Center (7 p.m., ESPN), the Cougars (17-2) have a chance to do it again – and for the first time in Provo.
These are rare moments. The Wildcats will be just the 11th No. 1 team BYU has ever faced and only the third at home. Dating back 75 years when legendary coaches Stan Watts (BYU) and Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) matched wits in Lexington in 1951, the Cougars are 1-9 against the nation’s top ranked teams – UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and most recently Gonzaga.
Any player or coach who has done it will tell you – it’s a different game whenever a No. 1 ranking is involved. No one knows that more than Dave Rose.
As a senior guard at Houston, his team spent most of the 1982-83 season ranked No. 1, and as BYU’s head coach for 14 years, his Cougars faced the top-ranked Tar Heels and Bulldogs.
“When you think of all three of those situations, you just try to keep the personality of your team the same for the game,” Rose said. “You can’t let one game become bigger than it is because it’s just one game.
“There is a lot attention on the game. The players know that and the fans know that. The key is to try and keep everyone thinking the same way about that game as the other 18-19 games that they won.”
As a player, the co-captain of the national runner-up Houston Cougars saw the No. 1 label as a motivator.
“The one thing we had on our side was the majority of people didn’t think we were the No. 1 team,” Rose said. “We played in the Southwest Conference. The ACC was everything.
“Every night we were out trying to prove we were the No. 1 team instead of acting like the No. 1 team. I think that really helped us.”
Arizona has been acting the part of America’s top squad for four weeks. At No. 13, BYU isn’t far behind. For a handful of former Cougars, the chance to measure up against the No. 1 team the moment of a lifetime.
Kresimir Cosic vs. No. 1 UCLA
Doug Richards sat at the top of the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City and cheered on BYU legend Kresimir Cosic and his teammates as the Cougars battled No. 1 UCLA in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 1971.
“UCLA was really good. I remember Henry Bibby hurting us with his penetration and shots,” said Richards, who was a freshman in the program, but due to NCAA rules, he had to wait until his sophomore season to join Cosic on the floor.
“I think they scouted us pretty good because Stan Watts’ teams liked to run. They played good defense.”
Steve Kelly led the Cougars with 24 points. Cosic added 18 with 23 rebounds but the Bruins had too much firepower, including 15 points from Bibby and 14 points and 20 rebounds from Sidney Wicks.
UCLA beat BYU 91-73 and went on to win the national championship.
Russell Larson vs. No. 1 Duke
Fresh off upset victories against No. 9 Oklahoma and Memphis State, BYU charged into the championship game of the Maui Invitational on Dec. 23, 1992, ready to get after No. 1 Duke.
“This was a BYU team that had a lot of mojo, and felt we could conquer the world,” said Russell Larson. “We quickly found out why they were who they were and why they were ranked No. 1.
“They punched us in the mouth. We were out of the game by the second timeout.”
As a 6-foot-11 sophomore, Larson scored 16 points and spent half of the game defending Duke superstar Grant Hill, who finished with 27 points in the Blue Devils 89-66 victory.
Duke’s Bobby Hurley added 14 points with 11 assists.
“It was amazing just to see the talent level and individual skill and coach (Mike Krzyzewski) and the aura of Duke basketball,” remembered Larson.
“Years later, it’s still Duke...these are the names you had a chance to beat. It’s just a lifetime memory for me.”
Jonathan Tavernari vs. No. 1 North Carolina
After shocking No. 6 Louisville 78-76 in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational, BYU advanced to face No. 1 North Carolina in the championship game on Nov. 24, 2007.
“I had just had a massive game against Louisville (29 points) and my fondest memory was (Cardinals coach) Rick Pitino saying, ‘My goodness, that Italian kid can shoot!’” Jonathan Tavernari said.
“Then walking from the press conference, Roy Williams stopped me and said congratulations and introduced himself as the coach of North Carolina. I was like, ‘I’m talking to Roy Williams. I could die right now.”
The next day, BYU went toe-to-toe with the Tar Heels and led several times during the second half. 6-foot-11 junior Trent Plaisted paced the Cougars with 24 points and 17 rebounds while Tavernari, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, hit six 3-pointers to finish with 18 but North Carolina won the game 73-63.
“There was a sizable difference in athleticism and strength from Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Danny Green. They were loaded,” Tavernari said.
“Playing the No. 1 team is exciting. For me, it was a very unique experience.”
Eric Mika vs. No. 1 Gonzaga
BYU went 1-5 against former WCC rival Gonzaga when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1, but that lone victory on Feb. 25, 2017, remains the single greatest night of Eric Mika’s career.
Playing in front of a sold-out McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, the 6-foot-10 sophomore scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Cougars’ 79-71 win.
“I can honestly say it was one of the clearest times in my career when I felt like I was in the flow state,” Mika said. “I wasn’t thinking, I was just doing. I was reacting, playing at my own pace and kinda in my own world.”
Not only was Gonzaga ranked No. 1, but the Bulldogs were 27-0 and had defeated BYU in Provo 23 days earlier.
“We got a break, because somebody brought to our breakfast meal a newspaper headline already printed by the Spokane paper that said “Gonzaga 28-0!” as if the game had already been played,” Rose said.
“Our guys had physical copies of the paper that had them losing the game. I thought that was a good thing to talk about.”
Falling behind 18-2 wasn’t an ideal start, but strangely it was just what the Cougars needed.
“It’s easy to get your mind thinking, ‘We’ve got to be perfect tonight.’ It’s easy to fall into that trap,” Mika said. “We were down by so much in the beginning, the worst 4-5 minutes to start a game, but at that point, you have nothing to lose.
“It’s finding a way to get to this mentality of ‘I’m just going to go out and do what I’m supposed to do and what I was brought here to do, and there is no pressure on me.’”
BYU charged back and turned that pre-printed front page of The Spokesman-Review into old news before it could get circulated.
A basket by Mika with 8:40 to go gave the Cougars their first lead, 61-60. Another Mika jump shot broke a 71-71 tie with 1:08 remaining and his two free throws with 12 seconds left clinched the upset for the Cougars.
“When you retire and think about all those games, there are a lot of games I can see why and how things happened,” Rose said. “But that game… I’m still trying to figure out how we won.”
BYU vs. No. 1 Arizona
Rose likes BYU’s chances to upset Arizona on Monday. The Wildcats are playing their third game in six days. The Cougars are coming off Saturday’s 91-78 home win against Utah, when a healthy AJ Dybantsa set the BYU freshman single-game record with 43 points.
The coach who won 348 games for the Cougars thinks the quick turnaround will help BYU more than hurt them. Rose has seen this scene before.
“When we played (No. 1) North Carolina, we were pretty fortunate because we didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. We had defeated Louisville the night before,” he said.
“That will be the situation with BYU playing Monday after Saturday. They don’t have a lot of time to overthink it or to over analyze it — just do your game prep and go play.”
Unlike BYU’s 1992 match up against Duke, Larson believes these Cougars are built to go toe-to-toe against a No. 1 team.
“It’s gonna be so different for BYU on Monday because they are as gifted as any BYU team has ever been and Arizona is beatable,” Larson said.
“I think BYU can match up really well. Great-on-great is always about matchups and execution, and in the Marriott Center, I give BYU as good a chance as anyone.”
Tavernari contends these Cougars have already been conditioned for a big moment like this.
“I feel like we are in a completely different stratosphere compared to my days at BYU,” he said. “If I’m in the locker room, I’m saying, ‘Guys, we’ve already played the No. 3 team (UConn) in the country. This is just another game for us. Forget that they are the No. 1 team,” Tavernari said.
“Now, if we had won that (North Carolina) game, we would have made history because those guys went on to win the national championship. BYU plays Arizona again (Feb. 18), Houston, Texas Tech, Iowa State. The reality is that for this game, it is against the No. 1 team in the country, but for this roster, this team, and in this era of BYU basketball, it really is just another game.”
From Mika’s perspective, as one of the few Cougars to ever take down a No. 1 team, success on Monday hinges on communication, connection and star power.
“We are talking about AJ (Dybantsa) who should be No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Go show everybody why. Richie (Saunders) has an amazing case to be on the Mount Rushmore of BYU hoops. Go show everybody why. Rob Wright III came to BYU for a reason and that was to prove he can play in the NBA, not just as a floor general but also as a scorer. Go show everybody why,” Mika said.
“You can’t have the mentality of ‘Oh we have to play perfectly,’ but then you have to go play dang near perfect. Defensively, we have to be sound. It’s communication and being connected on defense, move ball on offense, and go into that game saying ‘No, they are not beating us on our floor.”
Richards is banking on old school Marriott Center ‘magic’ to be a difference maker.
“That’s a tough place to play. When we opened that place up (Dec. 3, 1971) you couldn’t hear yourself think,” Richards said. “If we can get in transition and get some easy baskets, that’s always demoralizing to a visiting team. I kinda like our chances.”
Rose may not play or coach anymore, but his eye for strategy still sees 20/20. His recipe for success includes consistent play from the Big Three – Dybantsa, Saunders and Wright, fewer fouls by Keba Keita and more points from Kennard Davis Jr.
“Davis is a really good offensive player, but he is sacrificing so much for this team because he’s always guarding the best perimeter guy,” Rose said. “His offensive numbers aren’t anything close to what they were (at Southern Illinois). He and Keba are big pieces,” Rose said.
“I just believe that it will be a really good night for the Cougs. I know (Arizona coach) Tommy Lloyd. I know the depth of that team, but I’m pretty close to 30 years with the Marriott Center on my side. I’m hoping it comes through again on Monday.”
BYU started its basketball program in 1903, and on Monday night in 2026, the Cougars have a chance to do something they have never done before – beat a No. 1 team at home.
It’s time.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.