Disappointed — sure. Discouraged — yes. Disillusioned — a little. Disenfranchised — not at all.
The roller-coaster ride of these 2025-26 Cougars had a seat for everybody, whether it was in the sold-out Marriott Center, a hostile road venue, or on the couch at home watching on television. From the greatly anticipated start to the abrupt and premature end, it was quite a ride.
Beating Villanova as a top-10 team on opening night in Las Vegas on TNT; dropping a two-point shootout to No. 2 UConn in Boston on Fox; taking down Miami on Thanksgiving on ESPN; stunning Clemson at the buzzer at Madison Square Garden on ESPN; fighting for footing in the elite Big 12 on CBS, Fox, ESPN, NBC and other outlets before fighting to the end against Texas in the NCAA Tournament on TBS — win or lose, these Cougars took Cougar Nation to places it has never been before.
The wild ride started with the signing and arrival of the planet’s top recruit, AJ Dybantsa. The moment he announced on ESPN that he was choosing BYU over Kansas, North Carolina and Alabama launched the Cougars into an unprecedented atmosphere of national intrigue. Even as losses and injuries mounted, the teenager from Brockton, Massachusetts, kept BYU in its national orbit for the last five months.
Dybantsa led the country in scoring and earned consensus first team All-America honors — a first at BYU since Jimmer Fredette in 2011 and only the third in program history, including Danny Ainge in 1981. In addition, Dybantsa is a finalist for National Player of the Year and the projected No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft.
Watching Dybantsa was as inspiring as losing Richie Saunders to an ACL injury on Feb. 14 was heartbreaking. The agony of injury pained Kevin Young’s roster. When Saunders’ knee buckled, the All-Big 12 performer became the fifth Cougar lost for the season.
Injuries change rosters much faster than fans change their expectations. So long as Dybantsa and Rob Wright III were on the floor, the demand for success remained. Granted, the lofty dreams of reaching the Final Four were all but gone but beating Texas in the first round still seemed doable right up until tip off.
The athletic Longhorns exposed BYU’s lack of size inside and their inconsistent outside shooting. Admittedly, Texas couldn’t stop Dybantsa (who scored 35), so they focused on everybody else to build a 17-point lead and held on to win 79-71.
Just like that, the ride was over. As the disappointed Cougars walked to the locker room in Portland, unhappy fans jumped on social media and began to vent — “We were robbed! This is the worst season ever! What a bust! We paid too much for this result!”
While some went right to the extreme, each post or tweet bemoaning the defeat exuded raw emotion — the kinds of feelings that dissipate with rest, time away and the return of common sense.
Was the BYU fan robbed? No. This was one of the most enjoyable up-and-down basketball seasons since the Cougars started playing in 1902. ABC’s catch phrase, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” is what makes fandom so intoxicating.
Is this the worst ending to a season ever? No. There have been plenty of seasons where BYU never sniffed the top 25 even while playing in conferences far below the level of the Big 12. UTEP’s 81-76 victory in Provo on March 1, 1997, might take the cake as the worst finish as BYU slipped to 1-25.
Was it a bust? A bummer, yes. A bust? No. Health changed everything and if that sounds like an excuse, it is — and it’s a reality based one. Had quarterback Bear Bachmeier gone down last season, would the football team still have finished 12-2? Unlikely. Young’s roster was down five players, and his Saunders was as impactful as Kalani Sitake’s Bachmeier. Texas was at full strength. What gets lost by the ‘bust crowd’ is the fact that Dybantsa almost beat the Longhorns by himself — and that’s impressive.
BYU paid too much for this result? No. Understandably, this was a deeply invested roster and ticket prices were higher than ever, but the loudest naysayers are often those who contribute the least. NIL has changed the game for everyone who wants to remain in the game. This is what it takes, and BYU has a deep bench of donors committed to make it happen. However, just like Wall Street reveals every day, some investments don’t pan out. It will be on Young and his staff to choose wisely as they construct next year’s portfolio.
Winning often brings out the best in people and sometimes losing does just the opposite. The fiery darts tend to come from the fringes while the fanbase is mostly constituted by the masses in the middle.
Everybody has the right to expect more, to pour their heart into reaching beyond the reasonable. That’s what drove Columbus to challenge the theory that the earth was flat. Imagine the disappointment of his boosters had they found the edge and went over it. High expectations are what gave the revolutionists the motivation to beat back the British and it’s also what got BYU to start thinking it can attract five-star players — one after the other.
Blaine Fowler and I walked into the Delta Center on Oct. 24 to broadcast the exhibition game between No. 8 BYU and No. 25 North Carolina for ESPN+. An NBA scout entered the arena with us.
“Who are you here to watch?” we asked.
“AJ, Richie and (UNC’s) Caleb Wilson,” he said.
Dybantsa, Saunders and Wilson combined for 54 points, 23 rebounds, six blocks and 7 steals in a thrilling 78-76 BYU victory.
During this week’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament, only Dybantsa was still on the floor and with Saunders and Wilson out injured, both the Cougars and Tar Heels were eliminated. It’s a thin line between winning and losing and it becomes even thinner as a team loses its star players.
There is no record of whether German poet Ludwig Jacobowski was a sports fan, but his famous phrase is appropriate for the Cougars: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
This season will be remembered as the year Dybantsa came to play. The pains of how it ended will be forgotten as quickly as Egor Demin’s 3-point shooting woes during the early part of last season. If it truly is his only year in Provo, Dybantsa will respectfully be revered by BYU loyalists forever.
Whether Dybantsa returns for next season or not, the high expectations certainly will. The addition of five-star Bruce Branch already has Young’s mind turning on the kinds of players to put around him and it won’t take long before Cougar fans order another tall glass of blue Kool-Aid and drink it up.
Expectation is like sugar and everything tastes better with sugar, but too much of it can have a negative effect on the body’s health. Moderation is still undefeated and recommended. BYU’s demise against Texas is a bummer, but things could be worse. Just imagine pulling for a program that operates with no expectations at all.
Now that would be something to rant and rave about.
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.