I first discovered CougarBoard back in 2011 when I was desperate for info about BYU potentially joining the Big 12. Next thing I knew, I was positive we were in (how else do you explain the chartered flight from Texas to the Provo airport?!?! ) Good times! Anyway, I’ve been a serious lurker ever since.

So, I finally joined the board because I wanted to share some thoughts about the state of the basketball program by contrasting it with the other team I follow closely: Wichita State. My family is pretty intertwined with both schools—I have degrees from both—and I feel like I have a pretty good level of familiarity with both programs.

Obviously, with anything like this you’re dealing with apples and oranges to some degree, but I think these programs are actually useful to compare thanks to some of their similarities. Specifically, they’re both big dogs in mid-major conferences, and the level of talent they’re able to attract seems to be about the same (with BYU perhaps having a slight edge). What’s not the same—at all—are the coaching philosophies and styles of play.

To say Dave Rose is anything less than a good coach would, in my opinion, be unfair. He’s a good coach. But he’s not a great coach. Gregg Marshall, on the other hand is a great coach. Wichita State has been to a sweet sixteen and a final four within the last four years.

In my opinion, the difference in the level of success Marshall has been able to achieve has to do with the overall personality and focus of the program—which I attribute directly to coaching. If you watch a Wichita State game, you’ll notice that while Marshall’s teams sometimes have cold stretches offensively, they’re always extremely disciplined and committed to playing team basketball. Also, the defense is unfailingly phenomenal. The Shockers play intense, stifling, in-your-face defense. Every season. Every game. Every possession. It’s effort and scheme. It’s the result of commitment and practice, both from the players and from the coaching staff. Just read this article from earlier this year to get a sense of how seriously the whole program takes defense:

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article112018962.html

BYU’s style of play, on the other hand, often seems ragged and individualistic. The offense is wild at times and the defense isn’t quite there. I think we absolutely have the talent to be a very good team this year or next, but I don’t necessarily see it happening. We’ll probably continue to place third in the WCC and not make it past the first round of the NCAA tournament (if we’re selected at all).

BYU will continue to beat up on bad teams, but I don’t see us ever getting to a point where we can consistently punch above our weight. Wichita State, on the other hand, often beats and occasionally dominates teams with superior talent (like when they crushed Kansas in the tournament two years ago). I honestly cannot imagine BYU doing anything similar, yet I fully expect Wichita State to have similar games in the future.

Obviously, I can’t prove anything. But I believe the talent at BYU is better than the results we’re getting. We could certainly do much worse than Rose, so we should be careful what we wish for, but I do firmly believe that Marshall could have taken BYU’s roster and turned it into a sweet-sixteen caliber team this year.

That is all.