The college season is well underway, and we had a tremendous weekend of big-time basketball, as we are gearing up for more content across the country. Early on, we have been diving into teams and a team that has been standing out in my eyes has been the BYU Cougars, as they are off to an impressive 10-1 start.
When you look at the makeup of this team, you can see that they are strong both offensively and defensively, as well as deep. That only got me thinking about how dangerous this team could be if the season continues for the Cougars. In what will be a tough Big-12 Conference, the Cougars certainly look quite difficult in what they bring to the table.
They rank as a Top-15 offense, averaging nearly 90 points per game, they rebound the ball extremely well averaging 45 boards a game, they share the ball really well in finding teammates, and even more impressively, they rank near the top on the defensive end, giving up just 61.2ppg. This is a balanced team that has five players (one missing time due to injury currently in Fousseyni Traore) that average double figures, they bring a group mentality in attacking the boards, and they are a Top-60 team in 3-point shooting and have four players that have 45 or more attempts from behind the arc.
Diving more into the early stats, they have their guy in Jaxon Robinson who is averaging 18 points per game to lead all players, but they can hurt you in so many ways, especially using their depth. Robinson who comes off the bench certainly helps, but overall, BYU ranks second in the country in bench points per game at 40.5ppg, and they have 12 players that have played in seven or more games. 'And that doesn't include the addition of Dawson Baker from UC Irvine who has missed time to start the season but was All-Big West the past few years and scored over 1,000 points in his three-year career.
Ranked as a Top-25 team early on and when diving more into what this team offers, this is a team that I consider extremely dangerous and could be a darkhorse when it comes tournament time.
