The BYU Cougars are set to take on the Texas Longhorns on Thursday, as part of the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars come in as the No. 6 seed, and the Longhorns are No. 11. The game is scheduled for the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Here are important updates on the players’ availability for both teams for their first game in this year’s Big Dance.
BYU vs. Texas Injury Report for NCAA Tournament
BYU Cougars Men’s Basketball Injury Report
| Player | Position | Status | Injury/Reason | Impact/Notes |
| Richie Saunders | G | Out | Knee (ACL) | Suffered a season-ending ACL injury against Colorado on February 14. |
| Xavion Staton | C | Questionable | Undisclosed | Limited availability lately. Status is day-to-day. The nature of the injury is undisclosed. |
| Dawson Baker | G | Out | Knee | Out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and a torn lateral meniscus |
| Nate Pickens | G | Out | Undisclosed | Expected to miss the rest of the season with a reported ankle surgery. |
| KJ Perry | G | Out | Redshirt | Not active for the 2025-26 season. |
| Brody Kozlowski | F | Out | Redshirt | Not active for the 2025-26 season. |
Texas Longhorns Men’s Basketball Injury Report
| Player | Position | Status | Injury/Reason | Impact/Notes |
| Lassina Traore | F | Out | Knee | Ruled out for the tournament after he missed the last 9 games. He’s suffering from significant soreness on a medically repaired knee. |
BYU Cougars Coach Kevin Young on the Meaning of March Madness
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the BYU Cougars’ participation in the NCAA Tournament, coach Kevin Young opened up on what March Madness means for a basketball player.
He revealed what he told the team ahead of the start of the Big Dance.
“This is something I told our guys a couple of weeks ago. And I learned this last year,” Young said. “I was fortunate in the NBA to be on some really good teams. We were, you know, two wins away from winning an NBA championship. And what I shared with the guys was that it was cool, but there’s absolutely nothing like playing in March Madness…even cooler, for me, than the NBA Finals.”
The Cougars are slight favorites for the first-round game, with DraftKings listing them as 2.5-point favorites. The ESPN game predictor is a bit more confident in the Cougars, giving them a 63% chance of winning the encounter in Portland.
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