Perhaps appros pro of nothing, but I saw Mika and Emery on the national awards watch list and was impressed BYU actually had two on the lists. Then I wondered who else has multiple entries on the watch lists.
Seemingly there are 11 better teams with individual talent in the eyes of the committee making the individual watch lists.
There are 13 with 2 watch list members.
There are 24 teams with only one watch list nominee.
If the BYU team can come together, a sweet 16 seems not totally outlandish given the individual talent. Basketball especially as it is played so much today seems to emphasize individual talent so much.
I don’t know the other 2 watch list nominee schools to know if their other cast of characters matches BYU’s. but on the recruiting stars level, based on conference membership averages, 10 other teams with the multiple watch list nominees may have a supporting cast as strong as BYU’s.
So blue goggles aside based on individual talent BYU could easily end up ranked this year and has a reasonable shot at a sweet 16 birth.
Blue goggles on, Coach Rose is a top 10 coach, with his best team ever, (talent wise), especially up front, so this year and if he can keep them next year or the following, BYU may well have their best national finish in the Rose years.
Duke 5 including Frank Jackson
North Carolina 4
UCLA 4
Arizona 3
Indiana 3
Kansas 3
Kentucky 3
Oregon 3
Purdue 3
Villanova 3
Wisconsin 3
BYU 2
UCon 2
Creighton 2
FSU 2
Gonz 2
Louisville 2
Michigan S 2
NCS 2
Notre Dame 2
Syracuse 2
USC 2
VA 2
Xavier 2
Baylor
Belmont
Butler
California
Cincinnati
Clemson
Davidson
Dayton
Georgia
Harvard
Illinois
Iowa
Iowa St.
Lehigh
Louisiana State University
Maryland
Memphis
New Mexico
Ohio St.
Oklahoma State
Oregon St.
Pittsburgh
Rhode Island
Southern Methodist University