The BYU Cougars men’s basketball team has released its 2026-27 non-conference schedule. The season starts on Nov. 2 in a big matchup with Ohio State at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
The Cougars are coming off reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season under head coach Kevin Young. While guard Robert Wright III returns, program mainstay Richie Saunders and No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa are out the door.
Here are three takeaways from the schedule release.
No Road Games
BYU won’t play a true road game before Big 12 play. Now, they won’t play every game in Provo. Non-conference games with Ohio State and Northwestern will be at the Delta Center up the road in SLC. The Cougars will head to Palm Springs for the Acrisure Series against San Diego State on Dec. 19. And, the Cougs are heading to the Maui Invitational, eschewing the Players Era in Las Vegas.
But the rest of the games are in Provo. None of those games are against high-major conference opponents, though BYU is sure to get tested by Utah State. But many high major schools design schedules this way to control their NCAA NET before conference action. Neutral site games against other high-major teams are more forgiving.
The Number of Games
The NCAA changed the number of games a school can play in non-conference. It used to be 13 games. Now, it’s 14 games, including two or three games at a multi-team event. The Cougars will get three games in Maui. But BYU took advantage of the extra game and loaded up an additional home game, based on this schedule.
It’s also a break-neck schedule. BYU will play 14 games between Nov. 2 and Dec. 22. Based on this, the Cougars are not going to play a game after Dec. 22 until Big 12 action begins.
Is this a read the tea leaves situation? No. Kansas has released its non-conference schedule, and the Jayhawks have a game on Dec. 29. So, the Cougars are prioritizing rest at the end of the calendar year.
The Scrimmages
Many teams played one or two scrimmages last year. The NCAA rules changed and now teams can have scrimmages out in the open and many are using it to leverage fund-raising and NIL. The Cougars will play two, and one will be on the road. The Cougars will host Nebraska on Oct. 16 and then travel to UNLV on Oct. 24.
So, yes, BYU’s one true road trip before January is to Sin City for a game that doesn’t count.
