National College Basketball Expert Praises BYU For SDSU Win
Nov 11, 2023, 11:04 AM
Brigham Young Cougars guard Richie Saunders (15) drives past San Diego State Aztecs guard Reese Waters (14) at BYU’s Marriott Center in Provo on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – College Basketball insider Jon Rothstein for CBS Sports and FanDuel took notice of BYU defeating No. 17 San Diego State on Friday night.
The man who won’t be sleeping until May praised BYU on X for its 74-65 victory.
College Basketball Insider Jon Rothstein weighs in on BYU
Rothstein put a Big 12 twist on the compliment.
Arizona's win at Duke is a major win for the pro-Big 12 crowd, but BYU's victory over San Diego State is also a feather in league's cap. Provo will be HELL for visitors in league play.
Still believe that 2020 Cougars team of TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs could have made Final Four.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 11, 2023
“Arizona’s win at Duke is a major win for the pro-Big 12 crowd, but BYU’s victory over San Diego State is also a feather in league’s cap. Provo will be HELL for visitors in league play.”
The Marriott Center had more than 15,000 fans in attendance for last night’s game. That’s for a non-conference game in November. It’s only going up when Big 12 teams begin rolling through Provo in January.
In a way that Jon Rothstein only could, he turned the tweet into a tough memory for BYU fans as he said, “Still believe that 2020 Cougars team of TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs could have made Final Four.”
Obviously, that 2020 season was taken away because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So no NCAA Tournament took place. It’s one of the big “what ifs” in BYU basketball lore.
Former #BYU stars Jake Toolson and TJ Haws are in attendance for tonight’s game against SDSU.#BYUHoops pic.twitter.com/grThiPLE0L
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 11, 2023
Last night’s BYU team did something that the 2020 squad couldn’t do, take down San Diego State.
TJ Haws was in attendance last night, along with Jake Toolson, to watch their alma mater take down the Aztecs.
“Keeping The Faith”
Mark Pope. Keeping The Faith.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 11, 2023
The victory over San Diego State improves BYU’s record to 2-0 to tip off the season. They have low expectations within the Big 12 Conference as they were tabbed as the preseason No. 13 pick out of 14 teams. But if they take Rothstein’s advice of “keeping the faith,” maybe they can be a spoiler at times in the nation’s toughest league.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
