BYU mascot dunk power rankings

Erik Buchinger February 10, 2020 9:02 am

The 2019-20 college basketball season: no dominant blue blood. No FBI. No Zion. What we saw take place Saturday night with the BYU mascot dunk might be the play of the year in college hoops, and I’m not sure there’s a close second.

I watched this no less than 30 times from all angles and I’m impressed each and every time. I’m convinced everybody involved spent their entire lives working toward this moment. Years of perfecting their craft delivered when the lights shine the brightest. You won’t find brighter lights than on a Saturday night in the West Coast Conference at a timeout break during BYU vs. San Francisco.

Get the idea yet?

The more I analyzed the video, the more I thought about which of these participants had the most impressive performance, so here’s a look at my power rankings of this moment featuring the great Cosmo, the dunking BYU mascot.

1. The throwers

Forgive my stupidity, but I lived the first 26 years of life unaware 5 humans could launch another human dressed in a cougar costume that far and that high. That is about 23 feet long and maybe 15 feet high? We need to bring back John Brenkus for a little Sport Science. Either that, or I should’ve paid attention during school to figure out how this works.

Perhaps more impressively, the accuracy could not have been more perfect. A small misfire leads to a missed dunk and a lame attempt at entertainment, while a large misfire misses the mat and leads to the athletic department puttin out flyers to find a new mascot.

I tried to single out which of the tossers impressed the most, but this is a complete team effort.

2. The passer

This could be a bit controversial, but the fella who passed the ball performed the second most impressive feat. Yes, it is probably the easiest job but there is so much pressure on the person who has the easiest job. You know how nervous he had to be? This could’ve easily gone awry.

If I was appointed to be the guy to toss the alley-oop pass, I’d be so far against it. No credit with all the blame if things don’t go as planned? Not for me. Why can’t the mascot just dunk it himself? It’s not the alley-oop that’s impressive, it’s the fact that a mascot threw down a dunk from the 3-point line.

3. Cosmo the Cougar

BYU’s dunking mascot is in third place in my power rankings even though he’s getting the most attention from this. The throwers made this an easy slam, so catching the ball clean might’ve be the most impressive accomplishment from Cosmo here. He made the adjustment to get the ball into the hoop, so props to Cosmo.

4. The fans

BYU-San Francisco seemed like the best atmosphere in college basketball this weekend. Stands looked filled, students were jacked up. It’s what college sports should be about, and the place exploded when the dunk went through. Pat yourselves on the back, Cougar nation.