After posting its best league performance with a 13-3 conference record last season, the Cougars were selected to finish second in the West Coast Conference’s annual preseason poll, as voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches.
BYU will start the 2020-21 conference schedule Dec. 31 at Pepperdine. The nonconference schedule has yet to be finalized.
The Cougars also earned another recognition through senior guard Alex Barcello, who was named to the preseason All-WCC team. Three Gonzaga players made the All-WCC team, along with two from Pepperdine and a single player from San Francisco, Loyola Maryland, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara.
In the preseason poll, BYU picked up 69 points, including one first-place vote. The Cougars split home-and-home series with Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and San Francisco last season and finished with a 24-8 overall record.
Gonzaga is the preseason favorite to win its ninth-straight WCC regular season title. The Bulldogs received nine first place votes and 81 points.
Norma Gonzalez, a Texas native, joined The Tribune by way of Arizona. A 2014 graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American, Norma has reported on sports since high school. Some of her former live include being a cake decorator, an educator and Olive Garden server. The unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks still occasionally haunt her dreams.