No Place Like Home

If you’re scheduling football or basketball games, and you want a reasonable chance of winning, don’t travel to BYU.
The Cougars haven’t lost at home in football since Nov. 19, 2005, an overtime against Utah. That makes them 17-0 in that span. In basketball, BYU’s last regular season home loss was Nov. 18, 2005 against Loyola Marymount ‘ a 50-game stretch.
Consequently, the Cougars say they have had difficulty scheduling high level opponents at home, particularly in basketball. Last year, for instance, BYU played Louisville, North Carolina, Michigan State and Wake Forest ‘ all either on the road or at a neutral site. This year the Cougars do have a return game with the Demon Deacons in Provo, but that’s it for big-name, non-conference opponents.
At the same time, at least someone is having success luring high profile opponents to their home. Utah basketball coach Jim Boylen has Oregon, Cal, Gonzaga and Louisiana State coming to the Huntsman Center this winter.