After three brackets were unveiled (West, South, Midwest), BYU players and coaches were sweating it out inside the Marriott Center as they waited to see which seed they would be given during the NCAA Selection Show.

It turns out, the Cougars didn’t need to sweat at all as they were given the No. 6 seed in the East bracket. It’s the highest seed that BYU has been awarded since 2011 when the program was given a No. 3 seed during Jimmer Fredette’s senior year.

BYU (20-6) will play the winner of the play-in game between Michigan State (15-12) and UCLA (17-9) on Saturday. Tipoff time and venue information will be announced at a later time.

Utah Fires Larry Krystkowiak — Here’s All The Reactions

Considering how the Cougars have been treated by the NCAA Committee in the past, many assumed the Cougars would get dropped to the 7th or even the dreaded 8-9 seed, but luckily that wasn’t the case. In fact, the NCAA ranked BYU No. 23 overall.

With Sunday’s selection, it marked the 30th bid all-time for the Cougars in the NCAA Tournament and just the second time in program history that BYU has been selected as a No. 6 seed. The previous time came in 1981, when BYU made an Elite Eight run. For Cougar fans, this is hopefully a good omen as the Cougars look to make a deep run in the tournament for the first time in a long time.

With Michigan State and UCLA playing in the play-in game on Thursday, the Cougars will be busy scouting two teams this week and won’t have a lot of time to prepare for whoever their opponent is on Saturday. But, the same could be said for the Spartans and Bruins. The Cougars are 12-12 all-time against UCLA and 4-5 against Michigan State.

While many fans and media members reacted to BYU’s seeding as a tough draw, it’s important to remember that UCLA is 4-6 in their last 10 games and Michigan St. is 5-5. The only worry for Cougar fans is that in that span, the Spartans beat Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State — all No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the tournament. However, they don’t call it March Madness for no reason as any team in the tournament is likely going to be dangerous.

The good news for Cougar fans is that every time BYU has earned a No. 7 seed or better, the Cougars have won at least one tournament game. It also marks just the sixth time in program history that the team has received a No. 6 seed or higher.

If BYU can get past Michigan State/UCLA, the Cougars will likely face No. 3 Texas in the second round. Longhorn fans certainly noticed with many of them hoping they don’t see BYU ever again after what happened in football several years ago.

Here’s a look at how fans, players and coaches reacted to the news:

Texas

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Utah Fires Larry Krystkowiak — Here’s All The Reactions

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