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BYU basketball: This Marriott a heartbreak hotel

Congrats to BYU on the home winning streak. The best place to watch a college basketball game in the state remains the Spectrum in Logan. It is still also the toughest place for an opponent to win. USU is 16-0 this year and 138-12 under coach Morrill. Where's the write-up about this gem?

As those of us who were there remember, the original name was NOT the Marriott Center. It was the Marriott Activities Center. Every building on campus has an abbreviation and this one was MAC so it was affectionately known as "The Big Mac". I guess the Marriott family did not care for the McDonald's connection as it was soon renamed and the word Activities removed. If you look closely at the name on the side of the building you can see the holes where the additional letters once were.

First off BYU plays nobody in it's non conference home schedule. Who was your best non conference home win this year? SUU, maybe Pepperdine, or was it the hartford hawks out of the powerful American East, no, i know it was Jackson State. Looking at BYUs non conference home schedule is like looking a ton ten list of schools no one ever knew had a sports program. Your home win streak means nothing until you schedule some teams that have been participating in D1 basketball for more than five years. That's why the MWC gets no respect, it's top team plays a bunch of no names

But unfortunately the conference tourney will be played on UNLV's home court which will cost BYU dearly in the NCAA tourney seedings.

Whitney you are right that BYU non-conference home games are pretty weak and you know why? No one whos program is worth anything wants to come to the Marriot Center because they will lose. Why do you think BYU played Michigan State at energy solutions arena and Oklahoma State there as well a few years back? The quality programs wont play at the Marriot Center because they have more to lose than to win. It is too risky for a top tier program to come into a hostile environment and play a lowly "mid-major" team that they will probably lose to.

There were some times in its early years where the M(A)C hosted some NCAA tournament games. Has it been a BYU or an NCAA decision not to hold games there any more?

MARRIOTT BUILT IT - BUT KRESO FILLED IT.
If we start talking about the history... let's talk about the players who made the legacy - and the men who made the players - Stan Watts, Rodney Kimball, Floyd Johnson. They were the legends behind Cougar Basketball.
Some of us were there and saw it - and worked with them. WHAT A PRIVILEGE.

Jussi Kemppainen
Espoo, Finland

If BYU ever wants any respect with the NCAA Selection Committee, they're going to have to stop whining about having to play UNLV on their home court....and just win. If you're a Sweet 16 caliber team, then prove it in a hostile environment! All of the talk about moving the Tournament out of Las Vegas is crazy....it's been tried before and was a miserable failure. Everyone loves going to Vegas, and the Mountain West makes tons of dough in the process. Cougars.....step up and win a game there!!

Winning at home is great, but in the grand scheme of things, it means nothing. You should win at home. It's been a great streak, but it will not help BYU when they start the NCAA tournament.

whine all you want whitney, but the point is they win. and scheduling is a little more complicated than that. michigan state refused to come to provo this year so they played in salt lake. it's not all byu's fault.

Hey Whiney Ghent, do you really think any top schools would be willing to come play in the MC? No team with a reputation is going to put it on the line in the MC. Why do you think they had to play Mich State in SLC?

Whitney is crying because Utah lost.

There is one team in the state with a better home record than BYU. That's right, Utah State is 16-0 at home, compared to 14-0 for BYU. The Spectrum in remains the best college basketball atmosphere in the state, and the toughest place for opponents to win over the past 10 years. Utah state is 140-12 under Stew Morrill in the Spectrum.

Our last home loss was to Lamar.

You still have to win

I think that it pretty much can be proven that the Spectrum is the best college atmosphere in the state. when Dave Rose won't honor an agreement to play there this year. The reason why was USU was predicted to be way good and your coach won't play there in that type of atmosphere. If you all are as good as you say you are why won't he come to Logan when it is your turn? That is why he plays these other teams on neutral sites. He won't play them on their court. I agree with this very intelligent Whitney (Whiney is a good one guys, real grown up)that BYU needs to step up its home schedule.

Will never forget the first season in the Big Mac-lining up overnight for tix to watch Cosic, Tolstrup, and the boys. This younger generation would find it hard to imagine Kresho-a gangly 6'11" Yugoslav giant that ran the floor like Pete Maravich

Every game was a sellout and some of the games against Arizona State will forever be classics.

Finlandia forever!

Steve C.

BYU now has STEAM-ROLLED all takers two straight years in Football and basketball and has become too tough for the MWC. Sorry Utah it's only getting worse now. Game , set , match!
COUGS!

Why do Utah State fans keep piping up about their school? No one cares. You're like the little brother that gets ignored and keeps crying out "look at me, hey, look at me." True respect comes when other people choose to look at you and recognize you for your great achievements, not when you have to tell others to pay attention to you. All your wins at home couldn't even put you in first place in your conference. Same with BYU football and the talk of BCS hopes. If and when the time comes, people will know it and BYU and/or it's fans will not need to say anything.

Get a Life!!!! Go read your local newspaper or your school newspaper in Logan than talk about how great your progam is or how tough your homecourt advantage is. Yeah you guys are real menacing to opposing teams when you start playing your fight song, and milk the COW! Wowser! That has to be the stupidest fight song ever. I am so sick and tired of seeing Utah State fans read everything about BYU and then make your stupid comments about your insignificant team. BYU may have lost in Logan over the last 5 or 6 years, but you guys have lost in Provo every time as well. And the reason BYU had to re-do their contract with Utah State was because Utah State was getting 3 home games vs. 2 home games that BYU received in the contract.

That's not going to work for any school. That's like Duke getting into a contract to play 3 away games at Princeton, and only play 2 games at home in Cameron indoor stadium. That's ridiculous. That would do nothing for Duke, and everything to lose. Not only that but Utah State does nothing for BYU if they win the game.

Whitney, your comments simply aren't worth reading. The MWC is consistently in the top 6-8 conferences in the nation. Who cares about the non-conference schedule given every decent non-conference team wants to play us at a neutral site. BYU's strength of schedule is in the top 1/3rd in the country. What more do you want from a Mountain West school? The streak is great. Sure, it would be better if the Cougs had beaten a dozen top 20 teams during the streak, but that's just not an option or opportunity available. I tire of comments like yours.