Why BYU is traveling to Nebraska for an exhibition game

BYU basketball will get its first taste of outside competition this weekend.

The No. 8-ranked Cougars are headed about 900 miles east to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face the Cornhuskers this Saturday afternoon — but whatever happens on the court won’t end up in any record books or win-loss columns.

BYU and Nebraska are set to play in an exhibition game, their first since the NCAA loosened past regulations regarding the preseason.

In years past, Division I teams could only take part in official preseason games against schools from different divisions. Any exception to this rule required NCAA approval through a waiver process, along with the game’s revenue being donated to charity.

Many DI programs would utilize a legal loophole to circumvent the restrictions: playing fellow DI teams in “secret scrimmages,” with no fans, no broadcasting and no official scorekeeping.

But among the many recent changes within college athletics came one for the preseason, as the NCAA announced in January it would now allow teams up to two exhibitions against any other four-year school.

These scrimmages, if teams elect to schedule them, can now be televised, have fans in attendance, and the money generated can go toward whatever the schools desire.

BYU’s exhibitions will come against Nebraska this weekend and then at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City against No. 25 UNC on Oct. 24.

While Cougars head coach Kevin Young believes the preseason competition will benefit his team, he admitted that he’s “learning on the fly” in relation to the exhibition games.

“It’s different in the NBA because it’s not like this, it’s not a big deal,” he told reporters last week following BYU’s blue-white game. “You just go play five or six exhibition games and off you go. Here, I think (the preseason) has become a big deal because it’s new. It’s new, so I don’t really know what to make of all of it.”

BYU has not played in Lincoln since 1935, when the Cougars fell 53-34 to the Huskers. The two schools haven’t met in the regular season since 2009, when Jimmer Fredette and company took care of business in 88-66 fashion in Las Vegas.

Rob Wright III, Nate Pickens, Dawson Baker and Brody Kozlowski were all held out of last week’s blue-white intrasquad game. It’s uncertain which of the aforementioned quartet, if any, will be available for Saturday’s scrimmage.

But for the Cougars who do suit up in Lincoln, the exhibition isn’t really about winning or losing. The purpose is to fine-tune everything on the court before the start of the regular season — especially considering BYU’s nonconference guantlet looming ahead.

Thus, Young and Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg have been in communication regarding how they want to handle the exhibition and what each side is looking to accomplish from it.

“We did have an agreement on certain things, you know, like, ‘Hey man, this is what we’re going to do. We’re not going to try to trick you, you know, this will be our coverages,’ and stuff like that, just so we can both kind of get the most out of it,” Young said of his talks with Hoiberg.

“... I’m just glad we’re playing a team like Nebraska who’s going to be really organized offensively, going to challenge us and things like that.”

Saturday’s action will not be broadcast on linear television, but instead can be streamed on Big Ten Plus with a subscription.