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Which BYU sport best “Reps the Y”?

By Adam Gibby

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 10: A flag for the Brigham Young Cougars enters the field of play for their game against the Utah Utes, at Rice Eccles Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 10: A flag for the Brigham Young Cougars enters the field of play for their game against the Utah Utes, at Rice Eccles Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) /
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PROVO, UT – SEPTEMBER 16: General exterior view of LaVell Edwards Stadium prior to the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Brigham Young Cougars on September 16, 2017 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
PROVO, UT – SEPTEMBER 16: General exterior view of LaVell Edwards Stadium prior to the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Brigham Young Cougars on September 16, 2017 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /

Top 1: Teams that have the best argument to “Rep the Y”

Men’s Cross Country

It is really tough for a cross country team to be considered their school’s sport, but the Men’s Cross Country team makes a strong point, especially in two of the big categories.

Recent success and pro athletes.

Since the year 2000, the Cougars have finished in the Top 25 every single season. Seven of those seasons BYU finished in the Top 10. Last season BYU finished third and is currently ranked second in the nation.

Another factor that really helps BYU: 23 former Cougars went on to be Olympians. Cross Country has BY FAR the highest ratio of athletes who go pro of any BYU sport.

BYU Football

BYU Football is this high because of how big football is. Most schools are known for either football or basketball, even if other sports are better. BYU hasn’t had a lot of success recently in Football compared to ANY other sport, but the 1984 National Championship and the fact that it’s football keeps this team in this tier.

The Cougars do have their share of former players making an impact professionally.

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Men’s Volleyball 

As tough as it is to represent a school as a volleyball team, here we are. The Men’s Volleyball team ranks extremely high in three of the categories: pro athletes, recent success and postseason play.

As far as professional success goes, there is no other team that has the same success. The United States just finished third place in the FIVB tournament (volleyball’s version of the World Cup). Three of the team USA’s team members were former BYU Cougars. Imagine if three members of Belgium’s third-place World Cup soccer team were former Cougars. That’s the equivalent.

The team’s postseason play has been really good, but they lack recent titles. The Cougars have three National Championships, but they’ve had the chance multiple times to win even more. In the last ten seasons, the Cougars have finished in the Top 5 eight times.

The only thing keeping this team from running away as the face of BYU athletics is the fact that it’s a volleyball team. But given football and basketball’s recent lack of success, and cross country is an even smaller sport than volleyball, BYU Men’s Volleyball is the sport that best “Reps the Y”.

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What do you think? Does BYU Football’s history do enough to claim the top spot or does another sport better represent the Cougars?

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