CARLSBAD, Calif. | As the early morning turned to brunch hour turned to the afternoon, Omni La Costa started eating up the 29 teams that were competing in the 2025 NCAA Championships, some hoping to make up ground to make the 15-team cut for Monday's final day of stroke play that will determine the eight teams who will battle it out for the trophy starting Tuesday.

After shooting an eyepopping -11 on Saturday, Arizona State struggled to a +7 on the day. Oklahoma shot -8 on Friday but came out at +7 in the third round, along with the Sun Devils. These two teams were never in danger of missing the cut, but other schools — Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and California — hoped to rise the ranks to cement their names in the final 15.

Meanwhile, BYU sat at home, watching the leaderboard as other schools fell down the ladder chute that was the course, especially the back nine, because of a university rule that they can't compete on Sundays. The NCAA allowed them to play their third round on Thursday when every other team participated in their practice round. The pins were supposed to be the same for the Cougars. Still, in a game where conditions and the firmness of the greens are so vital, the NCAA gave BYU an advantage that is entirely unfair to every other participant in the tournament.

This isn't about BYU, its missions, beliefs, or the Mormon church. It's far from it. This is about a slippery slope that the NCAA has opened for one school that goes against the benefit of every other.

What stops another school from doing the same thing?

Several coaches are unhappy about the committee's decision to allow this. It's unfair to their program and, most importantly, their players. Golf is a game that differs by day, hour and minute. At one moment, a 180-yard shot goes from one club to another. The firmness of the greens, soft at the beginning of the day, start to harden as the sun dries them out. The course plays differently; the other 29 schools had to go through that on a day when low scores were rare.

As for the pin locations? While they were close to what BYU played on Thursday three whole days ago, some differences were noticeable. On the par-5 No. 6, a hole that plays as tricky as most on the north course at the Carlsbad resort, the pin on Sunday was on a slant. On Thursday, it was in a flat area. It is a putter's difference, but still different.

Then there's the case of staring at the scoreboard on the final day before the cut and knowing what you, as a team, need to do. That can make any golfer feel pressure: the same pressure that those on the course felt on Sunday. BYU had no idea what they needed to shoot to make the cut, but I can confidently say that if they were to face the same course and conditions that the other schools did on Sunday, the +1 the Cougars shot during a laissez-faire Thursday wouldn't have been as easy to attain if there would be any chance. Only two teams (Auburn and Texas Tech) finished below par during the third round, with the average score being 8.59 above par.

For many years, this built-in advantage didn't matter. BYU would often show up, play three days and then head back to Provo after its season concluded. This year, it means a program like Georgia Tech, full of tradition, is heading home early.

But the Yellow Jackets could have shot better to make it, I can hear people saying. Yes, the schools that missed the cut cost themselves a shot at making it until Monday, but at a disadvantage to BYU.

Think this doesn't matter? Heading into Monday, when the top eight teams advance to match play, the Cougars are only two shots behind Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Texas A&M, all tied for eighth place. Make it all the way through and lift the trophy? Well, questions will be asked in bunches.

BYU will likely appear on Monday, proudly claim they made it to the second round and then disappear. But for now, their season is still alive because the NCAA bowed down to the Cougars.

There are 29 teams that played in the same conditions, with greens and pin locations starting Friday. BYU is the outlier.

Let the Cougars look into the eye of the 14 other teams teeing it up on Monday and tell them they belong. I don't believe they can.