Comments about ‘Cougar nation mourns what might have been against No. 2 Gonzaga’

Heading to dinner and then the game.

Cougars 84
Bulldogs 82

Go BYU!

Gonzaga 80
BYU 60

By the 1965-66 season, the NCAA tournament had already become the national championship tournament, but the field included only 16 teams. Thus the NIT was also considered a prestigious tournament. The 1965-66 BYU team was outstanding, as was the University of Utah team that year. Utah won the WAC conference and went to the final four of the NCAA. They had a strong team with Jerry Chambers as their star player. Even though Utah won the conference, BYU beat the Utes both at home and away. Utah lost to Texas Western (now UTEP) in the semifinals of the NCAA. Texas Western went on to beat Kentucky and were the first team to have an all Black starting line-up. Utah gave Texas Western a more competitive game then Kentucky did. Had Utah won the NCAA championship and BYU the NIT, the debate over who had the better team would have raged on forever. I rooted for both at the time, even though I was more of a Utah fan then. I later attended BYU, and became a Cougar fan. Back then there was much less animosity due to the lack of internet comment boards. Times were good.

WOW, thanks Mendle. That was a nice over view of the time. I too went to Utah, BYU, Arizona, and Nebraska....a couple of grad. degrees. I too remember the days when there was less animosity and everyone just enjoyed the rivalry! I still root for all 4 teams depending on who is playing who!

Gonzaga radio says 29,000 are at the game. Call the fire marshal!!

I am not watching but I see it's a close game at halftime. I'll bet the Marriott Center is hopping if the late start hasn't got too many to stay home.

Not to offer up any consolation but the final score looks like a strong showing (didn't see the game).

Great game Cougars. Probably the most complete game of the season.