Kevin Young Addresses 'Disappointing' Derogatory Chant From Oklahoma State Fans

Oklahoma State fans yelled a derogatory chant towards the BYU basketball team

Feb 4, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; BYU Cougars coach Kevin Young reacts to a play during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

In the second half of BYU's road loss to Oklahoma State, Oklahoms State fans chanted "F--- the Mormons" as the Cowboys were going on a second half run to close out the game.

After the game, BYU coach Kevin Young was weighing whether to address the chant or not. "Um, I'm gonna do it," Young said to himself. "There was some 'F the Mormons' chants tonight by the student section that I heard. You know, it's a great win for Oklahoma State University. Their fans should be proud, but it would be great if some class in there as well. You know, I've got 4 small kids at home. You know, I'm a Mormon. When I go home, they're gonna ask me about it the same way they asked me about it last year at Arizona. There's just too much hate in the world to be saying stuff like that. We've got enough problems in our world without going at people's religion and beliefs...I try to talk to our guys about being examples in the world. Like we can use basketball to really just bring people together and not tear people apart or something we talk about a lot, and, it's just disappointing."

Jackson Payne of the Deseret News posted Young's comments after the game.

Kevin Young ended his postgame press conference by addressing the “F*** the Mormons” chants during the game from Oklahoma State students pic.twitter.com/QIZqs6whLS

— Jackson Payne (@jackson5payne) February 5, 2026

Derogatory chants have become a growing trend over the last few years at BYU road games. Last Fall, the Big 12 penalized Colorado for chanting "F--- the Mormons" at a football game. The chant re-appeared a few months later on the road at Cincinnati. Seemingly every occasion comes with a similarly worded apology from the opposing school's athletic director the next day.

Despite the apologies, the behavior hasn't changed. Additionally, the Big 12 has been inconsistent in its punishment of the derogatory chants aimed toward BYU. Perhaps Coach Young's comments will help shed light on what has become a growing issue.

This isn't an issue that is unique to the Big 12. USC apologized to BYU after their students started an "offensive chant" during a football game. Oregon apologized to BYU in 2022 after their students started an anti-Mormon chant during a football game.

Stanford apologized to BYU in 2022 after its band performed an offensive skit during halftime. Most fans probably don't remember that 2022 was not the first time the Stanford band had used a halftime performance to poke fun at BYU. Back in 2004, the Stanford AD apologized to BYU after the Cardinal band mocked BYU and its ties to Polygamy.

The growing trend has become an uncomfortable subject for BYU fans, especially those traveling to away games.