PROVO, Utah (ABC4 Sports) - BYU will not be staying home for the NCAA Tournament, but rather will be headed to Omaha, Nebraska.
For the 31st time in program history, including the second time under fifth-year head coach Mark Pope, BYU men’s basketball will play in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars earned a 6-seed and will face 11-seeded Duquesne on Thursday in Omaha. If BYU wins, they will face either 3-seed Illinois or 14-seed Morehead State.
BYU will tip off with Duquesne at 10:40 a.m. mountain time.
The Cougars were hoping to be able to stay in Utah and play at the Delta Center, but they will have to hit the road.
"Mostly I'm just disappointed for four for our fan base," said BYU head coach Mark Pope. "I think it would have been really special for Cougar Nation to be able to be there in that gym. We kind of had hoped that that's where we would end up. But listen, it's so hard to get in this tournament and the fact we have a chance to go play and go compete is what really, really matters to us."
BYU (23-10) finished in fifth place in the Big 12 Conference, while Duquesne (24-11) won the Atlantic-10 Tournament to receive an automatic bid, its first trip to the Big Dance in 47 years.
The matchup between BYU and Duquesne will be the third all-time meeting between the two programs and first since Dec. 28, 1954.
"Obviously, everybody's goal is to win a championship, so hopefully we can go out and accomplish that," said BYU forward Jaxson Robinson. "That's what everybody's mindset on. And we're just going to walk in and try and prove the whole world and shock the world."
BYU is 15-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament including a 3-2 record as a sixth seed.