BYU can't bring important guests home to inhospitable Marriott Center

PROVO, Utah -- Ray Beckham sits on the front row at the Marriott Center.

But it hasn't always been this way.

Lee Cummard and BYU are waiting for quality competition to come to Provo. (AP)

"I used to be on the third row, because that's the row I picked when the arena was built," Beckham explains. "But then they moved the benches and the media to this side of the court, and that meant they had to move the first two rows. So now I'm on the front row."

In other words, Beckham has been around a long time. He was the man who headed fundraising for the Marriott Center, helped secure the money it cost to build and can tell story after story about the place, everything from why that exit to our right had to be added at the last minute to why the school decided to build a 22,700-seat facility even if it can be difficult to consistently fill.

"Utah had built an arena right before us," Beckham says. "The president just said 'Build it bigger than theirs.'"

So it was under those orders that the Marriott Center was born, and here we are on a beautiful November night, me and Ray Beckham, some 37 years after the facility opened. He is talking me through the history; I am listening and taking notes. And as Jonathan Tavernari sinks another 3-pointer to push the Cougars well ahead of Rice, Beckham reflects on three decades of BYU basketball and touches on the home winning streak that seems like it might go on forever.

"I've seen a lot of losses in this building," Beckham says. "But not lately."

Fifty-one and counting

Cameron Indoor Stadium is as intimidating as it looks on television, one of the few facilities that lives up to its reputation. Rupp Arena is huge, Pauley Pavilion is historic, Assembly Hall is wild and the Dean Smith Center is a sight to behold. All those places are great. But when it comes to producing home victories, they each rank behind BYU's Marriott Center, which hasn't seen the home team lose since Nov. 18, 2005, otherwise known as Dave Rose's first game as head coach of the Cougars.

Yes, Rose started 0-1 at the Marriott Center.

Now he's 51-1 and in control of the nation's longest home winning streak.

But as impressive as that statistic is, it also must be pointed out that BYU hasn't won 51 consecutive home games by beating one national power after another. In fact, during this stretch, the Cougars have hosted just one non-league opponent that subsequently made the NCAA tournament, Oral Roberts on Dec. 29, 2006. So you can see why the streak doesn't demand national headlines. But what you should also understand is that none of this is BYU's fault, what BYU wants or what BYU works tirelessly to achieve.

"I would dare say that we spend at least an hour a day, five hours a week, on scheduling," Rose said. "We're always trying to get people to come in here."

Unsuccessfully, of course.

And it really is one of the headaches of being the coach at BYU or any place like BYU. Almost no programs from BCS-affiliated leagues are interested in visiting because of the high-risk/low-reward aspect of it.

They know there's a good chance they'll lose, and even if they win it'll just be deemed as a victory against a "Mountain West" school, which makes BYU's constant offers unappealing and puts Rose in a position where he's almost shocked if high-major programs even take his call, where he's now open to visiting a certain Big East or Pac-10 school twice if they'd be kind enough to come to his place just once.

Asked how many rejections he gets for every signed contract, Rose did the math and answered.

"It's probably close to 40 or 50," he said. "We call a lot of guys."

And the explanation is?

"They don't usually give an explained answer because they don't want you to quote them," Rose said. "There's just not much interest."

Which is why Jan. 3, 2009, is marked on the calendars and circled and highlighted and surrounded by arrows pointing to the date. That's when 19th-ranked Wake Forest -- an actual real-life ACC school -- will visit the Marriott Center, give BYU fans a marquee home game and try to snap what will be a 54-game home winning streak provided the Cougars don't lose to Boise State (Dec. 10), Portland (Dec. 13) or Western Oregon (Dec. 23) before tip-off.

Technically, the BYU students will still be out of school.

But why wouldn't they come back early for this kind of rare event?

"It's going to be nice," BYU senior Lee Cummard said. "I've been a part of all (51 wins) of this streak, and there have been a lot of blowouts. So it'll be nice to get an ACC team in here."

Yes, it will be.

But sadly, I'd like to advise BYU fans to enjoy it while they can.

Because if the Cougars handle Wake Forest, it'll only discourage other powers from visiting.

And then Rose's schedule-related calls will again be met by uninterested colleagues who know better.