Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, y’all!

I hope everyone has enjoyed the festive days with your loved ones. It almost feels like a lifetime ago since football ended, yet we’re only two days into 2020.

With the new year (and decade) underway, I thought maybe we could try to drum up some predictions on how BYU athletics will do in 2020. Well, I’ll at least break down how I think the spring season will go down.

With the way the men’s basketball team is playing right now, just as they’re set to start West Coast Conference play, I believe they stand a chance to break out of their usual third-place conference finish. But with the way the top half of the WCC is stacked, the Cougars could still finish third and make it to the NCAA Tournament. Either way, they’re going to have to play on all cylinders to put up a good fight against Gonzaga.

After dropping the road contests to Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, the women’s basketball team opened the WCC schedule strong, with wins at both places. The conference portion of the schedule will show just how well the Cougars have filled in Shaylee Gonzales’ role on the court. Had the guard not suffered a torn ACL over the summer, the Cougars would no doubt be building off of last year’s success. Either way, they should stand a chance to return to the tourney.

Men’s volleyball gets underway this season with two road matches. The No. 3 Cougars, led by two-time All-American opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez and All-American outside hitter Davide Gardini, should no doubt have a successful season. Expect the Cougars to win their fourth conference championship in five seasons and return to the NCAA Tournament.

Gymnastics is just days away from starting their 2020 season, and will do so with a preseason ranking: No. 23. The Cougars should shine the most from the floor, and should do well in the Mountain Rim, but I expect at least a Cougar or two make it to regionals.

With the success of the cross country season in the fall — with the men bringing home the national title and the women coming in national runner-ups — some should transfer over to the track and field teams, at least amongst the long distance runners. I’ll say the men finish in the Top 10 again, while the women improve and break into the Top 20.

What do y’all think 2020 has in store for BYU athletics?

More BYU basketball coverage

The men’s program closed out the nonconference schedule with a 79-73 victory over Oral Roberts.

The women opened WCC play with two conference wins, leading coach Jeff Judkins to his 400th career win.

Junior guard Alex Barcello started his collegiate career at Arizona, but never felt like he fit in — until he transferred to BYU.

Other voices

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News took a look into Utah sports over the last decade, including BYU football’s decision to go independent.

The Daily Herald’s Darnell Dickson compiled a list of the Top 10 BYU Olympic sports stories of 2019.

Roland Minson, a pioneer of BYU basketball who was one of the first national champions at the school, died at his home Wednesday morning, Sean Walker of KSL Sports reported.

Around campus

• The No. 3 BYU men’s volleyball team will begin the 2020 season on the road against two ranked opponents in No. 11 Loyola-Chicago and No. 6 Lewis. The Cougars will play at Chicago Friday and at Romeoville, Ill., Saturday. BYU and the Ramblers have met in four previous season openers, with Loyola-Chicago winning the last meeting in five matches.