Big 12 · Kalani Sitake, year 11 (86-45) · LaVell Edwards Stadium · 63,470 · 64,243 avg in 2026
LastW 28–17 vs Arizona · Sat Sep 12 · Tausili Akana 2.5 sacks, 2.5 TFL, 4 tackles
Nextat Colorado State · Sat Sep 19 · 7:30 pm ET · Canvas Stadium · BYU by 17.5 · series 39-27-3, won the last 7 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 6 | #9 | #237 | -50.5✓ | Utah Tech | W 63–7 124 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #9 | #28 | -6.5✓ | Arizona | W 28–17 118 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #10 | #81 | -17.5 | @Colorado State | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | @TCU | ||||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | Iowa State | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | Notre Dame | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @UCF | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | Arizona State | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | @Utah | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | Baylor | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | @Kansas | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | Cincinnati |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | Arizona | W 28–17 | 365 | 0 | 26:19 | +0.460 | 51.7% | 127.1% | |
| Sep 6 | Utah Tech | W 63–7 | 521 | 0 | 33:33 | +0.542 | 65.7% | 106.3% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 443 | 0.0 | +0.501 | 58.7% | 116.7% | ||||
BYU is the program that won a national title in 1984, spent four decades in the wilderness waiting for a seat at the table, and in 2025 came within a Big 12 title game of cashing in the patience.
Cougar fans have heard for years that the schedule was soft, that the faith makes the program a curiosity, that the wins came against nobody — and they say the 2025 Big 12 run answered all of it at on…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 12-2 · last season
✓ measured from 14 games · ranks are among Big 12 teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Warming. 8-2 over the last 10, and won the last three.
I’ve seen Jaden practice and I know what it’s looked like. It didn’t really look like that today. I’m sure North Carolina had something to do with that…we just didn’t give ourselves a chance
Next Sep 19
vs Colorado State · away
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
the open questionis this a real, durable shift in the program's tier?
Sitake's 26-11 run has BYU in dynasty-caliber territory for the first time since its title era, but the market projects just 8.5 wins this season.
our readfront page
Ryder Lyons (#38 QB) joins a program with 93% QB production returning and a 12-2 record — Kalani Sitake’s class is an addition, not a rescue, to a core already built for sustained success.
our readfront page
BYU enters 2025 at No. 18 in SP+ — the 12-2 record under Kalani Sitake raises the question of whether top-quintile returning production can sustain this ceiling.
our readbackground
LJ Martin does NOT see a usage spike in garbage time -- his workload holds steady regardless of score, and he's also efficient in competitive snaps -- the production isn't just garbage-time padding.
our readdeveloping
Carsen Ryan is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Jojo Phillips is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Outcome band · BYU · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
BYU has climbed into dynasty-caliber territory — into the top 15% of FBS by power rating over the last three seasons, up from the top 34% a year ago. It is a 26-11 record over the last three regular seasons. A real, measurable rise in the model. The room has caught up; now the schedule has to agree.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'resurgence is real' read: the numbers are starting to back the hype.
The 'wait and see' counter -- power shifts often get overread before the season proves them.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
BYU signed a top-21 recruiting class. It is a top-2 recruiting class in the Big 12. A class in the top 25 means the program competed nationally. Attrition and development are the next story. National coverage is split on what the ranking actually signals for this program.
The optimistic read: the class is real, the program is a destination again.
The 'rankings don't tell the whole story' counter -- development gaps, position holes still open.
This event was in 125 of 3975 board posts (3%) over the last 60 days — engaged but not consumed. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
BYU is the program with a national title, a religious identity, and the longest patience in college football.
The program ledger
since 2025Darnold out for season
Losing Darnold for the season hurts a line that already sent two tackles to the NFL — Sitake's No. 18 SP+ ranking was built on that OT depth, and it's visibly thinner now.
$45M buyout for Mike Norvell
A $45M buyout on Norvell while Sitake sits No. 18 in SP+ — BYU is spending like a program that knows exactly where it stands in the Big 12 pecking order and isn't blinking.
BYU releases first depth chart
Depth chart drops with two OTs gone to the draft and a top-21 class behind them — Sitake's answer to who actually fills that blindside pressure is the only number worth finding on this sheet.
Freshman WR moves up depth chart
Glasker's climb as a true freshman tells you the WR room has real depth — but it also says Sitake needs playmakers now, not in two years, if BYU is going to hold that top-15% power-rating ground in Big 12 play.
Michigan State transfer commits to BYU
Two OTs drafted out of Provo and the Big 12 doesn't wait — Kohler's experience in East Lansing fills a starter-tier gap that a #21 class alone wasn't going to patch by September.
Jag Ioane commits to BYU
Two OTs drafted out and the room was thin — Ioane lands at a program sitting No. 18 in SP+ and needing bodies who can start, not projects who need two years to find the speed.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
UT leads the 2026 class with 10 commits. National footprint reaching 10 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
98 signees across 15 states, 2023-2026. UT leads the pull.
That is 26.5% of every high-school FBS signee UT produced over those cycles — the biggest share any program takes — Utah State is next. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median BYU player grew up 241 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to LaVell Edwards Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 144 of 151 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence in a typical range for this program right now
55th percentile among FBS programs
68 of 68 AP voters have them ranked, AP ballot, week 3 (2026) — from #8, Kirk Bohls (Houston Chronicle), to #16, Chris Carter (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
Individual AP Top 25 ballots, AP ballot, week 3, 2026 — 68 voters tracked.
The flags haven't favored them: 12 penalties committed vs. 9 drawn on opponents, 35 yards behind.
105 penalty yards committed vs. 70 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · BYU · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026