Where Does This Season Rank in BYU Basketball History?

When talking about some of the best seasons in BYU men’s basketball history, you usually go to two different seasons.

1981, of course, is king. Danny Ainge became a consensus All-American and Wooden Award winner. In what is the most iconic moment in BYU basketball history, Ainge sent BYU to the Elite 8 by going coast-to-coast as the clock wound down against Notre Dame to seal the win.

The next place you go is likely 30 years later, to one Jimmer Fredette. When you call someone by just one name, their status level is elevated. Jimmer was a national sensation. Kevin Durant tweeted about him. ESPN talk shows were enamored with his range and consistency from three. He took BYU to rarified air for the program. In the Sweet 16, the Cougars went toe-to-toe with Florida. Despite Jimmer’s 32-point effort, BYU fell in overtime to the Gators. Still, that season tied for the highest BYU has ever reached in the AP poll, at No. 3.

The question is, does the 2024-2025 squad usurp the 2010-2011 team for second-best all-time?

There are reasons to think yes.

Of course, it will be very hard to recapture the pure magic and mania Jimmer Fredette brought to the team and the entire sport. He was a phenomenon. Will that ever happen again at BYU? AJ Dybantsa, anyone?

While Richie Saunders grew in popularity to the point of an NIL deal with a major Tater Tot company, he never reached Jimmer range.

You could argue that the fact that BYU went 26-10 (14-6 in the Big 12) and reached the Sweet 16 without the National Player of the Year is all the more impressive. This is the first time BYU reached the Sweet 16 without a consensus All-American on their team. In a way, that’s a higher degree of difficulty.

An easy element to point to is the sheer strength of schedule. The Big 12 is one of the best basketball conferences in the entire country. In fact, when sorting by Sports Reference’s Strength of Schedule metric, the 2024-2025 schedule BYU faced was the most difficult in team history. And yet, they thrived.

The fact that BYU made the Sweet 16 while facing the hardest schedule in school history should count for something. Also, throw in the nugget that this was Kevin Young’s first year on the job.

The 14 conference wins also tied for the most by a BYU basketball team since 1993, with the 2011 squad. Again, consider the level of competition in the Big 12.

In 2011, the Mountain West had three NCAA Tournament teams. Two teams entered the tournament ranked, BYU and San Diego State.

This season, the Big 12 enjoyed seven tournament teams. Five teams entered the tournament ranked in the Top 25. Three teams even got into the top five during the season.

This team directly competes with the 2011 team for the second best BYU team of all-time.

Consider BYU’s key wins during the regular season this year. They had two wins against ranked teams on their opponent’s home floor (Arizona, Iowa State). They handed one of the most blue-blooded programs in all of the sport, Kansas, one of its worst losses in team history.

The tiebreaker between this year and the Jimmer squad may be which team had a better run through the tournament into the Sweet 16.

Jimmer guided the Cougars to two tournament wins, against 14-seed Wofford and then 11-seed Gonzaga. The Cougars got to play two double-digit seeds as a No. 3 seed themselves.

The 2024-2025 squad faced a tougher test. First, VCU was one of the best 11 seeds in the tournament. They had a top 25 defense and gave BYU trouble early on in the opening round. BYU’s depth eventually won out, as the Cougars defeated the Rams 80-71.

Their next task was facing No. 3-seeded Wisconsin. BYU was the underdogs. However, the Cougars led wire-to-wire in an emphatic offensive performance, winning 91-89 in a thriller.

That was just BYU’s third ever win against a top-six seed in their program history. That was also their first win over a single digit seed since 1993. All this, after BYU was picked to finish ninth in the conference by the media.

Given that the 2011 team did not have to face a single digit seed as an underdog to advance, BYU’s win over Wisconsin is more impressive than either of the 2011 squad’s tournament wins.

With that being the tiebreaker, Kevin Young’s 2024-2025 team is the second best team in BYU men’s basketball history after Danny Ainge’s run with the 1981 squad, especially when considering this being the hardest schedule in school history.