Defending national champion BYU seeks its second-consecutive national club rugby championship when the Cougars host arch-nemesis Cal in the inaugural Varsity Cup National Collegiate Rugby Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The clash of national rugby powerhouses marks the seventh time in the last eight years that the two teams have met for the title, and will be the Cougars’ eighth straight championship game appearance.
BYU defeated Arkansas State 49-42 last year to claim the 2012 crown.
California has won six of the seven previous meetings, including a 21-14 victory in the championship game in …

Former BYU post player Brandon Davies might be making his way up some draft boards around the NBA. If nothing else, he’s starting to show up on some of those online mock drafts out there.
Davies wasn’t getting a sniff from the several drafts sites until his outstanding performances in a couple of post-season All-Star appearances in April.
He was named the MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament after averaging 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds, and leading his team to the championship of the tournament. Virtually every NBA front office is represented …

Six former BYU Cougars now begin the process of trying to make NFL rosters as undrafted free agents.
Braden Brown, Uona Kaveinga, Romney Fuga, Braden Hansen, Brandon Ogletree and Preston Hadley will all try to live the dream in the coming weeks and months as they try to latch on in the NFL.
Rather than be taken in the last round or two, some players would prefer to go the route of free agency because it allows them to sign on with a team that has specific needs that matches a player’s …

The truth be told, the Detroit Lions may have passed on former BYU defensive end Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah with their No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft if one of the top three offensive tackles would have been available.
The Lions entered draft weekend with three primary needs–offensive tackle, defensive secondary and defensive end. Either Eric Fisher of Central Michigan, Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M or Lane Johnson from Oklahoma could have provided Detroit’s franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford with much needed security on his blind side.
With those …

He’s still five weeks away from graduating from high school, but Lone Peak center Eric Mika has already turned his focus towards Provo and BYU– a place where he will try to fill the shoes of All-WCC post player Brandon Davies next season.
The 6-10, 225-pound future freshman will enter the BYU program as the nation’s No. 3-ranked center for the class of 2013. He will also come to campus with state and national championships in his back pocket.
This past season, Mika was a dominating force on a team that destroyed …

Lone Peak High star guard and BYU basketball commit, T.J. Haws, told Deep Shades of Blue that he plans to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before suiting up for the Cougars.
There has been speculation that T.J. might play one year with his brother Tyler before before leaving for the mission field.
However, in the video below, he tells DSB that the advantages of playing college basketball for four straight years after returning home from his mission won out over the opportunity to play …

Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah didn’t know how to put his pads on three years ago. On Thursday, he could become the highest NFL draft pick in program history.
Not only is he a lock to be selected in the first round of this week’s draft, he’s been slotted by many draft prognosticators to go to the Detroit Lions with the fifth overall pick.
If that happens, Ziggy would tie Jim McMahon as the highest draft pick in BYU history.
However, there are some draft gurus who think that Ansah could go higher than No. …

First there was Jimmer. Now BYU brings you Ziggy.
For the second time in the span of two years, a BYU athlete has become a media darling and captured the attention of sports reporters around the country.
Jimmer Fredette created a national phenomenon  during BYU’s 2010-11 season and subsequent run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament.
The formerly pudgy kid from upstate New York stole the show at the Big Dance with his off-the-bus range, his will to win and his funny name.
Jimmer ended up as a lottery pick in the …

A number of junior college players have made major impacts on the BYU football program over the years.
Players like Jason Buck, Tim McTyer, Omar Morgan, Jonny Harline, Todd Watkins and Andrew Rich are just a handful of notable Cougars who came to Provo following stellar careers at the junior college level.
In 2013, BYU has turned to the JUCO ranks more so than at any other year during the Bronco Mendenhall era, signing a total of eight junior college players. A lack of talent and depth on the offensive line, along …

BYU quarterback Christian Stewart failed to crack the two-deep in last week’s post-spring camp depth chart.
But if you are a Cougar fan, that’s good news after three years of the program wandering in the desert at the QB position.
Stewart being pushed down the depth chart may well be a sign that better production at quarterback is on the horizon. That’s because the local kid from Orem looks pretty good.
The Snow College transfer would probably be considered the third-string quarterback on the roster, behind Taysom Hill and former SUU quarterback Ammon …