I’m a BYU alum from the 80’s, in many ways, the glory years for many BYU men’s sports, football and basketball.

Back in the day, BYU basketball was so popular, that they had ticket lotteries, and the students went in the Marriott Center at midnight, filled the place up, and was awarded a ticket and told what section to sit in.

They would draw tickets by section, and those students were awarded season tickets to the basketball games, the others…out of luck. Was an awesome time to be a BYU basketball fan...nationally ranked and recognized, etc.

Glory years,….Michael Smith, Jeff Chatman…#2 national ranking….it was amazing. Fans were scattered everywhere in the Marriott Center, and it was great watching BYU win.

HOWEVER….it was NOTHING like the atmosphere at the BYU vs. Gonzaga game. “Fandom” has come a long ways since the days I attended at BYU. The student section is actually “organized” and have the chants, the huge cougar banners, the big heads, all that fun stuff going on behind the standards and it looks so fun for the students, being crazy and just having a good time at the game.

What is most amazing is that BYU has upped their game as well. The hype music, providing those huge cougar banners, the light shows, the sheet drop for the pre-game player profiles in action, the announcers, the halftime show, Cosmo….all are just top notch. I have not been to any WCC venues for basketball, but I can’t imagine any of their basketball experiences come close to what it was like last Saturday in the MC. I’ve been to several MWC venues, and nothing compares to what went down in the MC last Saturday.

I was at the #9 BYU vs. #2 SDSU game in the Jimmer years, but the #23 BYU vs. #2 Gonzaga game was by far, the most fun game day overall atmosphere I’ve ever been at. The Jimmer game may have been the most amazing game I’ve ever seen (just because Jimmer went off on a top ranked team…you know, Jimmer went Jimmer that day)…but the overall preparations by BYU to make this Gonzaga game the most amazing atmosphere is unmatched in my BYU lifetime of basketball games.

I want to give a big shout out to the amazing student section that makes for some awesome moments in the game. What great memories the current students must have, and have made for so many of the rest of us attending and watching the game. Goofy, crazy, fun!

A big shout out to BYU for the facility upgrades, scoreboard, big screens, hype music and amazing sound system, providing the glow lights, being innovative with the sheet drop/pregame hype clips of the players just before the introductions, ….just awesome.

And of course a huge shout out to the BYU team for playing their guts out to win that game. You could tell they fed off the energy of the MC. They were not going to lose that game.

It’s the best gameday atmosphere for basketball I’ve ever been at including NBA games. Way to go BYU in every respect. Proud to be a BYU Cougar.

Go Cougs!