BYU and Utah State basketball will not play this upcoming season. The Aggies released their non-conference schedule for 2022-2023 and BYU is not on it.
Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City was next in the rotation, but neither side could agree on the details. I spoke to various sources at BYU and outside of BYU to find out why the series flopped.
The state of Utah wanted a three-year contract: Vivint-Logan-Provo. BYU wanted to play the 2022 game at Vivint Arena and then reassess after that.
BYU did not want to sign a 3-year deal due to Big 12 scheduling. BYU will play 18 Big 12 games in its first Big 12 season, one road game at Utah, SDSU at Provo, one SEC team as part of Big 12 challenge 12-SEC, probably a Big East team as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle and 3 games in an MTE (multi-tournament event). Teams play 31 regular season games, leaving 6 spots open.
Few Big 12 teams play a true non-conference game outside of SEC and Big East challenges. Kansas State was the only team last year to play two (Wichita State and Nebraska). In BYU’s mind, playing at Utah State in 2023 just wasn’t feasible with the schedule challenge heading into the Big 12: The Big 12 has been the top conference at KenPom and NET for several years running. Big 12 teams just don’t play two real road games that aren’t part of the Big 12 and SEC challenges. BYU is already playing in Utah next season.
On the Utah State side, they didn’t just want to do a one-year deal at Vivint, they wanted to make sure BYU came to Logan. A Vivint-Provo-Logan rotation would risk BYU buying Logan’s game after playing on Vivint and Provo. Even if the state of Utah agreed to a Vivint-Provo-Logan rotation, I’m not sure BYU would have accepted it; they don’t want to overload their schedule when they enter the Big 12. Games with San Diego State, Utah, an SEC team, the Big East team, and the 3-game MTE are more or as much as other Big 12 teams play.
BYU would have only made a one-year contract at Vivint this year, but the state of Utah wanted to make sure BYU would come to Logan. Neither side budged, so we have no future games scheduled between the two schools. This year is also the last year that a soccer game is scheduled.
BYU now pauses a 10-game win streak over the Aggies on the court.
Below is what we know of the non-conference schedule. BYU has 3 slots left to fill.
- vs. Idaho State, Nov. 7 (Home, season opener)
- in the state of San Diego, November 11 (highway)
- against the state of Missouri, Nov. 16 (Home)
- vs. Nicholls State, Nov. 19 (HOME)
- Battle 4 Atlantis: November 23-25 in the Bahamas — 3 games; BYU will open against USC, second round against Tennessee/Butler
- vs UVU, December 7 (Local) — December 7 is according to a source
- vs. Creighton, Dec. 10 (Neutral, Las Vegas)
- against utah, December 17 (Home)
- vs. Lindenwood, Dec. 20 (Home) — This is Lindenwood’s first D1 season
- against Weber State, December 22th (Home)
