BYU vs. Florida A&M Preview: Cougs complete non-conference play

BYU completes its non-conference schedule today and plays its final Cupcake of the season when it hosts Florida A&M tonight (Friday) at the Marriott Center. BYU opens Big 12 play Dec. 31 against Arizona State in Provo.

BYU and Florida A&M in numbers

FAMU KenPom: 349

Record: 3-6

Wins: Trinity Baptist, Presbyterian, Trinity Florida

Losses: TCU, SMU, Maryland, Florida, Clemson, Utah

BYU KenPom: 41

Record: 8-2

Wins: Central Arkansas, UC Riverside, Queens, Idaho, Mississippi Valley State, NC StateFresno State, Wyoming

Loss: Ole Missprovidence

KenPom Prediction: BYU 87, FAMU 60 – BYU 99% chance of winning

Spread: BYU -34

Total score: 148.5

Overview of Florida A&M

The Rattlers have played a challenging non-conference schedule and have not been competitive in their six losses to power conference teams. Their 6 losses came by an average of 31.3 points; Their closest game was a 21-point loss at Florida. They played the Utes on Tuesday and lost by 30.

The most notable thing about Florida A&M is that they field 6-foot-10 forward Shaqir O’Neal, who is the son of his namesake Shaq. Shaqir is third on the team with 9.6 ppg.

FAMU is one of the worst teams in the country and doesn’t do anything particularly well. Their pace is above average and they will probably make a fair amount of threes; 46.6% of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc, which ranks in the top 50 nationally.

forecast

BYU’s defense has been good in the last two games against Fresno State and Wyoming, and they will look to put away a bad team tonight. Realistically, we won’t hear anything about BYU tonight; My biggest hope is that BYU comes out of the game unscathed.

I think BYU wins easily, but doesn’t quite cover the 34 point margin. FAMU has only lost one game by more than 31 points this year, and Kevin Young said BYU will hold Richie and Egor to make sure they are 100% healthy for Big 12 play.

Prediction: BYU 88, FAMU 57

*Record straight up: 8-2

*Record against the spread: 7-3

* I make a prediction for every game and track my record over the course of the season