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PROVO -- The two most unwelcomed spoken words in the sports realm are "what if?" Unfortunately for BYU, those words couldn't have come at a worse time.
Fortunately for BYU, that's not in their agenda. They are determined to get past the newly unfolded detour that has crossed their path.
"We deal with this quite often," said BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe. "Obviously this situation because of the timing of our team and everything, brings a lot of attention but we've handled exactly the same way we would have if there was no media."
Cougar Tracks:
Rose: "This is Life"
BYU head coach Dave Rose talked of moving forward after Brandon Davies' suspension, saying "we learned a lot about our team last night, and that will benefit us in the Saturday game."The national attention brought to BYU this week has been like none other they have received before, adding a lot of unwanted pressure to BYU's hopeful MWC championship. "I think the most important thing is that we talk about the positive things that we have," said head coach Dave Rose. "Now we're faced with a new challenge, and that is to respond after we've been beat. The first two times we've been beat, we've come back and won that next game, and hopefully we can do that (Saturday)."
As for the estimated time of Davies' return, there is no telling. The university is very clear to focus on the attitude of the offender.
"With any student when they come to the University, there's an agreement to live by the honor code," said BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins. "That agreement works because the student desires to be here at the University. There has to be this internal desire."
There is still a very clear sense of optimism coming from the Cougars. They still have plans to do well in the MWC tournament and make a run in March.
"I can't remember a time when going into the tournament in Las Vegas that there's a pretty good likelihood that we'll be in the NCAA tournament, no matter what happens in Vegas," said Rose. "This team has found ways to win games all year, and I have all the confidence in the world that we'll continue to do that."
After a humbling loss to the New Mexico Lobos in Provo, in which Rose admitted his team did not have enough time to prepare for the loss of Davies, the Cougars look to rebound Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against the Wyoming Cowboys in the Marriott Center.
The last time these two teams met the Cougars escaped Laramie with a 69-62 victory.
You can listen to the game on ksl.com or on KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM beginning with the pregame show at 12:30 p.m.
