Both BYU Basketball and BYU Women’s Volleyball have been hampered in recent years by one major obstacle – their conference.
In both sports, the West Coast Conference isn’t exactly a powerhouse compared to the big names like the ACC, PAC-12, SEC, etc.
With basketball, Gonzaga is practically a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament each year, and maybe one other team (BYU or St. Mary’s) gets a second bid most years. Cougar and Gael teams with 24-30 wins are routinely ignored while 20-win teams from bigger conferences get at-large berths.
In volleyball BYU has begun dominating the WCC, earning the conference’s automatic berth regularly.