BYU football enters its seventh season of independence facing a strong schedule. Is this the year the Cougars finally return to the national scene?
BYU decided to pull its football program out of the Mountain West after the 2010 season, hoping to become the Mormon equivalent of Notre Dame. Under Bronco Mendenhall, the team won at least eight games every year as an independent. While they have played harder schedules, the Cougars have failed to reach a major bowl game.
Mendenhall left to take the Virginia job last year, opening the door for BYU to hire Kalani Sitake. A former BYU fullback, Sitake became the first Tongan-born head coach in college football history with his hiring. Last year he took the led the Cougars to wins over Arizona, Michigan State, and Mississippi State. Their four losses came by a combined eight points to Utah, UCLA, West Virginia, and Boise State.
A few better turns of luck and BYU would have been undefeated. The 2017 squad will hope to build on the positive momentum of a five-game winning streak that ended the 2016 season. They face another tough schedule in the upcoming season. But with only four Power Five opponents, the schedule also lines up for a possible game-changing season in Provo on par with 1984.
Ten wins is well within reach for the Cougars in 2017, and they could challenge for a spot in one of the New Year’s Six bowl games if everything falls right. Which BYU players could lead the independent to a breakout season, and what Cougars games should you circle on your calendar in the upcoming year?