KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the T‑Mobile Center swells with fans and the roar of Big 12 basketball echoes through downtown, one team slips into the arena long before the first layup and stays long after the final buzzer.
This team doesn’t appear in the box score, and it will never hoist the same trophy, but its presence is impossible to miss. This is the cheer team — the group almost everyone overlooks, yet everyone relies on to keep the building alive.
While players cycle through warmups and coaches huddle over clipboards, the cheer squad members are already in motion. They rehearse in quiet hallways, tape wrists, adjust bows and run through stunts with the precision of a team that knows its performance sets the tone for thousands who will attend. When the doors open and the crowd pours in, they become the pulse of the arena — the ones who lift the energy when a team is down, who rally fans during timeouts, who turn a neutral site into something that feels like home.
“It’s fun in a different way,” cheerleader Rylee Cotterell said. “At home, we have a lot of traditions we’re able to do, but here, that’s over the sound system or the announcers. Here, we have to be the people who bring the traditions with the Megs.”
These moments — the travel, the crowds, the chance to represent BYU on a national stage — are something they look forward to all year.
“We’re pretty lucky at BYU,” cheerleader Kylie Doxey said. “Our administration takes care of us really well, and so does our coach. They make sure we have as many opportunities as pretty much any other sports team would.”
Traveling to a postseason tournament is one of those opportunities — one that feels different the moment they arrive.
“The energy is so different because we don’t travel for away games besides tournaments,” Doxey said. “So when we’re here, it’s cool to see a different perspective and have a lot of other fans. Honestly, it helps us get more into it and more competitive because we don’t have the other fanbase.”
The tournament changes everything: the pace, the stakes, the way the days stretch and blur together. It’s a rhythm built on adrenaline and repetition — practices, appearances, small performances, and then the game itself.
“It’s always awesome to be here,” Doxey said. “They play until we’re out, and we want to help them get as far as they possibly can. That’s different from a normal season. So we’ll just be out here cheering our hardest.”
But the connection they feel to the team isn’t just about the scoreboard. It’s personal.
“I think we care a lot about our team,” Doxey said. “We care a lot about their success, and we’ve been able to see them as people.”
She pointed to the resources BYU provide — as a major reason that bond becomes so real.
For Cotterell, the tournament is also a chance to step into a different kind of spotlight — one filled with fans who may be experiencing BYU spirit for the first time.
“We show up, and it’s so fun to be around fans where this is their only experience with a BYU crowd,” she said. “It’s fun to meet all the fans and be able to represent BYU, and we hope we do it well.”
Ask her to describe the BYU fan base in one word, and she doesn’t even pause.
“One word? Um… phenomenal,” she said, a smile stretching across her face. “They come wherever we go. It doesn’t matter what state we’re in — we always show up.”
Tournament days are long — but filled with the kind of experiences only something like the Phillips 66 Big 12 men’s basketball championship can bring.
“Today we had a good amount of time before the game since it’s an evening game,” Cotterell said, referencing BYU’s matchup against Kansas State the day before. “We did some homework, got some food, practiced in the afternoon, got ready, did the pep rally, practiced here, and then practiced again before we go out — just to make sure we have our timeouts and performances ready and we’re working with the band.
And then, when the lights come up and the game begins, they’re locked in — arms waving, stunts hitting new heights, emotions running high.
“I’m kind of the person on the team known to get the most heated,” Cotterell said, laughing at herself. “I really have to calm down. But you see the team, and you’re there for every moment, and you just wish them the best.”
In the chaos of March basketball — the noise, the pressure, the unpredictability — the BYU cheerleaders carve out their own kind of consistency. They’re the steady heartbeat beneath the tournament’s frenzy, the ones who keep showing up, game after game, moment after moment.
And in Kansas City, surrounded by thousands, they’re building an environment they hope can help propel the men’s basketball team forward.