Provo » Call it the glass ceiling, the 800--pound elephant in the room, or the one-and-done dilemma.

Whatever its name, the BYU Cougars aren't especially fond of talking about it at this time of year. But there's no doubting that there's a cloud hanging over the program, and as long as it does, pressure will continue to build to break through with a win at the Big Dance, something the Cougars haven't been able to celebrate since 1993.

"Yeah, there's a little pressure," sophomore forward Noah Hartsock acknowledged as the seventh-seeded Cougars began preparations Monday to face Florida in a first-round game Thursday (10:22 a.m., Ch. 2) at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

"Everyone talks about it -- that we haven't won [an NCAA game] for a long time. We are just going to go in there and play our game that we have been playing all this year. We are going to be prepared and we are going to play as hard as we can, and hopefully come out with a win."

Whether the Cougs will admit it or not, NCAA Tournament futility is one of two negatives facing a program that is a remarkable 126-39 the past five seasons under coach Dave Rose. The other is its failure to win a Mountain West Conference tournament title.

The Cougars are 0-8 in the NCAA Tournament and 0-7 in first--round games since they knocked off SMU 80-71 under coach Roger Reid in Chicago in 1993. After beating the Mustangs that year, they fell 90-79 to No. 9 seed Kansas and have not tasted victory since.

Rose, who has been a part of six of those losses -- three as an assistant under Steve Cleveland, three as head coach -- said he isn't talking about the issue with his team this week, noting with a measure of disgust in his voice that others will bring it up enough.

"What we want to do is make sure our players understand that this is our challenge," he said. "There is no extra pressure from someone else's situation, and we are going in there with this group. We have won 29 games and we should be really confident in our ability to win games. Let's put a game plan together, let's prepare for this team, and let's go play our best basketball."

There is a little bit of history on BYU's side. The Cougars were also a seven seed when they won in 1993, and haven't had this high of a seed since.

Their best seed ever was the four they had in 1988 when they downed Charlotte 98-92 in a first-round game. The last year BYU won more than one tournament game was 1981, when it advanced to the Elite Eight behind Player of the Year Danny Ainge. It was a six seed then.

The Cougars are 4-15 in the tournament since Ainge beat Notre Dame with his famous full-court drive for the winning basket.

Senior forward Jonathan Tavernari, who is 0-3 in first-round games, said the team isn't feeling pressured to put the futility streak behind it.

"I would say that getting a higher seed than we have had in the past, that helps a little bit," he said. "This is about us, this 2010 team. What has happened in the past has no bearing on us right now."

Junior guard Jackson Emery agrees with Tavernari, saying the losing streak is really only discussed when it is brought up by the media.

"We don't think about that too much," Emery said. "I mean, it is hard that we lost last year, and that some of the guys haven't won that have been here several years. But it is a new year, it is a new team. And it's a new team we are playing. So we are just ready to go."

Losing 70-66 to UNLV in the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals probably dropped the Cougars a seed or two, but star guard Jimmer Fredette said it is not about the seeding, it is about the matchup.

"I don't think it necessarily matters [what] your seed is," he said. "... I think we have a good matchup against Florida. They are the type of team, they don't have a really huge inside presence. They are more [geared] toward guard play and getting out in transition and running and gunning, kind of like we do. So hopefully we will be able to do it better than they do."

drew@sltrib.com