It was reported by Jon Rothstein on Tuesday that the BYU men's basketball team will face UConn in Boston at the TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics, in October.
This was the second time in the last week that news has broke of BYU playing a blue blood before conference play, as the Cougars are reported to play an exhibition — the game will not count towards their record — against North Carolina at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah in October.
On paper, BYU's non-conference schedule looks like that of a high-level program, one that you might see at Duke or Kentucky. After just one season at BYU, head coach Kevin Young has forced BYU's name into the list of must-see basketball teams in the college landscape.
| Opponent | Location | Date |
| Nebraska (Exhibition) | Lincoln, NE | October |
| UNC (Exhibition) | Boston, MA | October |
| Villanova | Las Vegas, NV | Nov. 3 |
| Deleware | Provo, UT | Nov.11 |
| Miami | Kissimmee, FL | Nov. 27 |
| Dayton/Georgtown | Kissimmee, FL | Nov. 28 |
| UConn | Boston, MA | November |
| Eastern Washington | Provo, UT | December 22 |
Including the two exhibitions, that is six games against power-five opponents, plus Dayton, who is routinely one of the better mid-majors in college basketball.
Last season, BYU had the 347th hardest strength of schedule in non-conference play, a complete 180 from this year's lineup.
When Young was hired to take over for the Cougars, he said his goal was to turn BYU into "the best place in college basketball for young men to play in the NBA," and a big part in accomplishing that goal is getting eyes on the program. The game against UConn, which will be played in front of AJ Dybantsa's home crowd in Massachusetts, will definitely get eyes on BYU.
This doesn't seem to be the end for BYU's tough schedule either, as Robby Mccombs has reported that talks of an NCAA Tournament rematch between Wisconsin and BYU is in the works.
With BYU most likely having the No. 1 draft pick on its team and the potential to be a top-five preseason squad, it's safe to say that all eyes will be on BYU before the Cougars even play the gauntlet that is a Big 12 basketball schedule.