Complex sentence: It hadn't been since 1997 that the automatic tourney bid went to any other; that year the BYU Cougars beat the Rainbows, again in Las Vegas, NV.
Split into simpler sentences: It hadn't been since 1997 that the automatic tourney bid went to any other. That year the BYU Cougars beat the Rainbows, again in Las Vegas, NV.