Want a better seed? Win a tournament game or two. The pollsters remember teams that appeared in the previous tournament's Sweet 16 or better.

BYU hasn't received any favors when it comes to seeding. But the reality is that they'll have to start winning these opening round matchups, difficult or not. Until BYU can advance in the tourney, those that offer the low seeds will continue to feel justified.

the cold hard facts are win and next time out you'll get a higher seed. The only team that can really complain is the Utah women's team.

your articles are so predictable. especially if you are writing about byu. i cant believe someone pays you to write this stuff. why dont you concentrate on your other job . the historian for the university of utah. you are much more suited to it.

Stop crying and earn a higher seed next time. You got the seed that you deserved.

If you think you deserve better than an 8 seed, you should be able to beat a 9 seed, right?

Unless BYU beats aTm, they or their fans have no business complaining about a seed.

Last year they lost to a 9 seed. Thus, any arguments that they were better than an 8 seed go out the window. The same this year if they lose.

Guess what, Brad—the Utes aren't in the tournament. Thanks for the article about how successful they used to be under Rick Majerus. Thanks for the side note about how whiny you think Cougar fans are. Maybe you should consider that the last two seasons sports writers at ESPN, CBS Sports and other places have often guessed the Cougars a few spots higher than they actually end up. Maybe that's why we feel disappointed in a number 8 seeding. Why don't you ask a few favors from your sport writer friends and see if you can get these guys to project the Cougars a few spots lower, then see how whiny they are come Selection Sunday.

There's really no difference between an 8th and 9th seed; I believe, in fact that 9th seeds may have an overall winning advantage over the 8th seeds in the tourney. If BYU feels they're a 6th or 7th seed caliber team, then they should be able to handle a 9th seed.

Texas A&M is streaky; they can be a very good team. BYU has been more consistent, but they have had some serious breakdowns also, both games @UNLV, @Boise St. and @Wake Forest. Today will be a good test of whether this BYU team has the mental toughness to beat a good team away from the Marriott Center.

Texas A&M pressures the ball. If BYU doesn't make the Aggies pay by driving inside, but instead settles for contested 3s late in the shot clock, they'll lose this game. Plaisted has to hit his free throws if the Aggies play hack-a-Trent. JT needs to not be timid, but take and make good shots within the flow of the game. Lee needs to play like the co-MVP that he is.

Go Cougs!

To be honest, BYU's LUCKY to have an 8 seed. They've never proven themselves in the tourny, and they can't even beat UNLV in the mountain west tourny. Its funny that players are complaining when they flat out dropped an egg whenever it counted: losing to a not-so-good MSU team, losing to Wake Forest, etc. The fact is, BYU's just really not that good. I'll believe in them when they clean up in the Mountain West Tournament and actually prove that they can win challenging games in a tournament environment. Until then, I'll just count my lucky stars that they even got into the tournament. The downside of an 8 is not who you play first, but who you'll play after that . . . But BYU never makes it to that point so . . .

Brad you are ute lover go on the hill and cry about how bad the utes are now. Byu deserves better they were ranked #20, and lost the mwc tournament at the Las vegas Freak Show. they played top ranked teams all year. This was a breakout year, and now it is time to prove themselves. A.m and then uCla. Plaisted better bring his B or b+ game.

After tonight's loss, I can't wait to hear the Cougar Nation excuse away another loss..

They had more fans, the refs, the late start, the travel time, the sea-level air, the crazy logo on the floor, etc. etc.

At least be original. We heard the same whining about playing UCLA and then you lucked out a win.

Seeding has nothing to do with past tournament success. All of you people that keep bringing that up don't know what you're talking about. If that were true why were the Utah women seeded so low when they have had past tournament success. The fact is that BYU's seeding is not a result of the lack of past tournament success, BYU's lack of tournament success is a result of the seeding.

You sound more like a BYU hater. Come out of the closet Ewet fan.

You don't go 14-2 in the conference based on luck. They only lost to TWO teams that aren't in the NCAA tournament all year and none at home.

This is a good BYU team that just needs a little more mental toughness to be very good.

I get a kick out of all the Ute fans who read every story about BYU and then complain about the writing. I don't complain about the writing of stories about the Utes because I don't read those stories because I don't care about the Utes. Ute fans, read the Ute stories and talk about the excititng 2nd round match up in the CBI.

I'm tired of this. BYU is an 8 seed. A&M is a 9 seed. BYU should win, even though the line says A&M by 1 and a half. In my opinion both not playing on Sunday and not winning much previously account for the 8 seed. It's time to step up and win the first game if we want more respect. I'm still proud of the Cougars B-Ball team no matter what happens today and what BYU haters say.

enough with the constant whining! between the BCS and now the tournament seeding it becomes exhausting. If the seeding committee got it wrong show them by thrashing your opponent.

You forgot about the lucky win against Utah. Oh wait, that was just the Utes choking. By the way, a missed field goal against UCLA would have been lucky, a blocked field goal against UCLA is called making plays to win the game. Kind of like converting on 4th and 18. Very few BYU fans make excuses. I think you're confused with Ute nation who is still complaining about the refs from the last Holy War.

Talk about articles inciting the crowd! Lose by 15 in the tourney championship and expect a higher seeding??!!!! Based on what? Oh, of course, a conspiracy!

They lost to Boise State. The eeked out some close wins over some very poor teams...come on!

Wake up and smell the postum, please!

The eight seeding is all they deserved on SELECTION DAY. Losing by 15 to UNLV Saturday solidified a "poor" seed.

GO COUGS!

I am so tired of the Cougar players and fans whining about seeding. Living in the heart of SEC and ACC country, with access to the other major conferences on the east coast, trust me, the Cougars should feel lucky to be seeded as high as they were. Today will be another one and out and next year will be a 20+ win season in an inferior conference and they will whine with another 8 or 9 seeding. Winning will cure the whining. Winning will cure the whining. Fifteen years of one and out, give me a break. Knowledgeable fans will know that the Cougars did not deserve a higher seed.

If BYU wants respect in seeings then they need to WIN THEIR GAMES!!! Then, if they get a bad seed, they can whine about things. And to the fans...get over it and support your team so they can win what will be a very competitive game!

No, if BYU loses it wouldn't be because of the 8th seed. It would be because they got outplayed by a good team and folded down the stretch.

I like our chances in a close game because the teams that beat us have a go-to scorer when the game is on the line. In the two or three games I saw A&M this year, they don't have that.

Look boys if you are going to win it all you have to beat the top rated teams anyway. Pull up the boot straps boys and girls, quit complaining and go to work or let somebody else from the conference represent the conference.

Everyone's said what they need to do to get a higher seed, and I echo that. Prove you should be a higher seed by beating a lower seed and only then will you have a case. Then, play UCLA to the very end and threaten to win, then you'll get more respect. Oh, beat UCLA and you'll be the talk of the nation and be considered "Cinderella."

Hit your 3's and you'll win this first game. A&M is not a 3 pointer team.

One game does not a season make. EVERY team, SEC and ACC teams included, ekes out close games against inferior opponents.

How does living in Florida give you anymore so called "access" to the major conferences? Their games are just as accessable here in the West, it's called cable/satelite television, btw, so just drop the condescending attitude bro.

This knowledgeable BYU fan believes that BYU deserved a 6th or 7th seed, but I can live with an 8th seed. Bottom line, this team needs to win tonight!

Go Cougs!

I would Not be complaining about an 8 seed.
A few years ago the Utah State Aggies were in a similar position on Selection Sunday... nationally ranked #22 or 23, a large pile of wins, but did not win their conference tournament. Their seed that year? An NIT invitation!!! Yes thats right they were not even invited to the NCAAs. It was a national story as one of the biggest snubs of all time.

And save the worn-out excuse that "BYU is a better overall program than USU", yada yada.... just look at who has won most of the recent matchups between these 2 teams.

Don't complain about an 8 seed.

GO UTES!!
byu cannot complain, they don't deserve higher seeds. 8 is too high.

I don't care what the seed is. The goal of a tournament is to determine a champion. Not 7th or 8th place. If you want to be the champ you must be able to beat ALL OTHER TEAMS. Nothing else matters. If BYU wants to gauge themselves by being able to get into the sweet 16 then so be it but please tell me off the top of you head. Who was in the sweet 16 in 2004? Don't know? Thats because it doesn't matter.

Just feel lucky to even get in. Did you know that Arizona lost twice to Arizona State and finished lower in the Pac-10 and is in the tourney and ASU isn't? I really thought that when the Y lost to UNLV they were out of the tourney. I thought with Georgia, Pitt, and San Diego winning and forcing teams like Duke, Georgetown, Tenn, Uconn, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and a lot of other ranked teams having to get an at large bid that BYU would slip off the chart. I am glad they did not slip off and got in the tourney. They deserve to be there but they need to prove they are better than an 8 seed which they have not done. I think if they had beaten UNLV they could have gotten maybe a 6 but no higher than that and also remember that they had a 10 in the espn bracketology so they actually went up. I would like to see them at a higher seed but I cannot justify anything higher because they have not proved that they can beat higher seeded teams. Play with better teams, yes, but not beat them.

Why are we talking about loosing already? If BYU is as good as we all think they are does it matter if the are a 8 seed or a 7 seed? If the MWC isn't the JV league of the BCS schools than we should do just fine. In fact, it should be TA&M who is complaining that they have to play BYU as an 8 seed when the cougs are more like a 6 or 7 seed - and that' not fair.

What's the big deal...we're lucky to be seeded higher than 11 or 12th. We had our chance to make a better impression and we couldn't come through. Obviously playing 3 games in five nights away from a home court advantage were too much. Despite the few rowdy UNLV fans who managed to create a spectacle along with a few of our own misguided fans, the UNLV players took the game away from us in the second half. You can't blame the fans for that...and you can't blame the refs either. It was a physical game down to the buzzer...on both sides. Get over it Cougar fans......being seeded 8th in the West isn't the worst.....We could have easily been selected several seeds lower in the East.

It doesn't matter where they are seeded, they will lose anyway. They always do.

I don't know why the DMN is still writing stories about BYU's seed. That is ancient history...

It's show time!

The only relevant issue now is:

What does BYU have to do to beat Texas A&M?

this whole article is built on a mighty thin amount of actual complaining cited in the article. one suspects the writer already had a story he wanted to tell and based a lot of opinion on a few thin facts.

What a bunch of bunk! You all have bought in. You're right, though. Getting a good seed in the tourney is about winning in the tourney in previous years. Still doesn't make it right.

For example, the Utes won't deserve a good seed next year no matter how good their team is in that year, because they didn't go anywhere in the NCAA tournament in this year.

That's what you are buying. So shut up. Sell outs!

For that matter, quit telling me about the Utes NCAA history with Majerus. He's gone. All that matters to anyone, are the current coaches records. I'll take BYU's accomplishments with Dave Rose over Utah's accomplishments with Boylen.

BYU's past has nothing to do with the present fact that Rose has brought them to the tourney 2 out of 3 years, and the first year was after inheriting a 9-21 team. Yes, BYU will have to break through with less than optimum seeding. But that's coming! Might be this year. One thing is for sure, Utah won't do it this year. And when Utah does return, they will have to fight bad seeds, too. I can at least see how lame that is.

I think that the article failed to mention that....UNLV beat them, well no, beat them bad! Maybe that was the reason there seeding is not higher...GO FIGURE

Forget it. If you are good it doesn't matter who you play. In the case of BYU, it's our habit of choking every time. We deserve what we get. Win over A&M and get bragging rights. Stop being babies.

Hey kids, can you BYU and Utah fans stop bickering long enough to notice that San Diego State and New Mexico have gone home from the NIT already? The MWC was lucky to get two bids, let alone an 8 seed for its tournament runner up

There's an old saying: "Just win, baby!" (Okay, it's a cliche, but it makes the point.)

Winners won't find time to complain about their seeding. Winners get busy right away finding a way to win.

The only thing BYU can to prove the committee, and the nay-sayers wrong, is to win! The complaints should cease, now and forthwith.

If they lose today, they'll have only proven their critics right.

yeah i hope byu does win tonight, but yeah they've got their work cut out for them. At least i'm not a Ute fan, I swear they hate BYU more than they like themselves...congrats on your win over subpar UTEP woo hoo.

BYU's low seeding has nothing to do with what you have done historically in the tournament. Just ask Florida and Ohio State who both will be watching and not playing this year. The problem is no one saw BYU games. Those that chose the seeding did not live in areas that got "The Mount". No exposure = an unknown product = low seed. Basic Mktg 101.

I am a die hard Cougar fan and here are the facts. Every single sports sight before the conferance championship had us as a 6th seed. And they had New Mexico and UNLV in the big dance at a 9th or 10th seed. New Mexico laid a huge egg, now they are out. BYU laid a huge egg in the championship. So they had to drop us a little bit. Problem is all the 7th seeds play on Sunday. So the only thng left for us was an 8th seed.

For those of you tired of Cougar fans complaining about the 8 seed...GET OVER IT! At least from one point of view we are justified in complaining! If you look at it logically BYU was ranked 24th before the last week and their RPI is currently 25. That means they very well could be among the 25 best teams which if you divide 25 by 4 (brackets) you get approx. 6...a 6 seed! The eight seed says the selection committee ingored the RPI ratings and used some random method!

Now, if you are smart and have confidence that a seeding indicates the strength of a team, then that would mean a 6 seed would play an 11 seed (weaker than a 9 seed for those struggling with this).

BYU should NOT feel lucky they are in the tournament...they earned it! The 9 seed that BYU is playing has a greater chance at beating BYU than an 11 seed would. Therefore, this just continues the problem of poor seeding that the committee has given the Y.

But this is part of life's problems and BYU will deal with it! Go Cougars-play your best!

I came on here expecting to here all the BYU agreeing with the writer and lamenting over everyone hating them. I am pleasantly surpirsed to see the attitude here that the fans just want to play the people across the court, and leave the bickering to the talking heads. We'll see how the attitude is IF BYU loses, hopefully it stays as matter of fact as it is now. GL to BYU and UNLV!!!

I find it amusing that so many BYU fans are coming down on Brad Rock for simply reminding us of the facts. The fact is that the Utes have a history of doing well in the tournament when they get in. The fact is BYU has a history of struggling in the tournament when they get in. Those two facts are not going to change. All BYU can do is focus on making the future better than the past and I think that is what Brad is saying.

boo hoo

Calling Utah fans, people pointing out BYU's weaknesses, and other critics names won't win BYU anything. Winning games always speaks volumes, something BYU's failed to do in the past, so lets hope they can just win tonight and keep going. Until you win, and win consistently in tournament play, you can't and shouldn't demand for respect or a free pass. Respect is earned by consistent, hard-earned wins, something no MWC team has done in any sport on a national level. Take UNC, they've won a TON of close games this year to good and bad teams, but the fact is they won! And they've been doing that for years. As much as I don't like UNC, you just can't argue with that. Until the MWC can consistently win at a higher level when challenged, they'll always be in the position they're in this year in the tournament.

Okay, enough with the "they can't even beat UNLV" comments! (BTW they got an 8th seed and won their 1st round last year and we are not complaining) It is clear that until BYU can prove they can win in a tournament setting they will never have a high seed. It doesn't matter that BYU appears to be unbeatable in the happy valley if they cannot prove themselves on the road IN a tournament. Good Luck to all the Mountain West this week!
Go REBELS!

Actually an 8 seed shows respect and here is why:

The MWC was not viewed as a strong conference at all this season top to bottom outside of BYU and UNLV(even more so than usual).

We lost to BSU for the second season in a row. BSU had around 24 wins, tied for 1st in conference play and then won their conference tourney - and they are seeded extremely low - something like 14.

We lost our last game to UNLV by 15. That was the last impression we left on the decision makers going into Sunday. UNLV took us 2 out of 3 and we are still seeded equally with them.

We literally stink historically in NCAA tourney play.

And despite all that we still got an 8 seed! I think we kind of lucked out actually and had better just strap it on and play some ball tonight and get the win!! A&M's young center is predicted to go in the top 5 in the draft so Plaisted had better wipe off the droopy puppy dog look and be tough tonight. Go Cougs but let's all recognize that 8 is pretty darn fair. Just win!

If BYU really were #25 in the country, that would merit a 7 seed, not a 6 seed. You see, there are 4 regions and each would have 6 teams in their top 6 seeds. Thus, the top 24 teams in the country fill out the top 6 seeds. Numbers 25-28 constitute 7 seeds, and so forth.

As far as what BYU deserved this year, it is unfair to say the committee "ignored the RPI and used a random method". The RPI is used as a guide. There are many factors that go into the selection and seeding process. It is not a "formula" like deciding the two top BCS teams in football.

Objectively, BYU is probably about a 7. But, an 8 isn't hard to argue. An 8 seed is between #29-32 in the country. That's basically where BYU is in the human polls. Computer rankings have them in that position (Sagarin has them at #30).

BYU did not get "jobbed" this year. Anywhere in the 7-8 range is legitimate, I think.

Not all 7 seeds are playing a Friday/Sunday format. West Virginia is a 7 seed and they are playing #10 seed Arizona today. If they advance to the regionals, they would go to Phoenix which is a Thursday/Saturday format.

BYU is lucky to have an 8 seed. If they want respect they have to earn it. Im sorry going 14-2 in a mediocre at best Mountain West will not get you national respect. You have to win on the road (we lost to Boise State, Wake Forest, and UNLV twice). Complain all you want but which 7 team should we bump back. Butler is a 7 seed and is the 10th ranked team in the nation. If we want national respect then how about we beat Texas A&M and play UCLA tough. There is no way we deserve higher than an 8 seed.