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BYU Athletics: The Top 10 moments of 2018

By Shaun Gordon

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 17: Two Brigham Young Cougars fans hold up a flag during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Mississippi Rebels at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OH - MARCH 17: Two Brigham Young Cougars fans hold up a flag during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against the Mississippi Rebels at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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MADISON, WI – SEPTEMBER 15: Adam Pulsipher #41 and Merrill Taliauli #54 of the BYU Cougars celebrate after a missed field goal in the fourth quarter of the game by the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI – SEPTEMBER 15: Adam Pulsipher #41 and Merrill Taliauli #54 of the BYU Cougars celebrate after a missed field goal in the fourth quarter of the game by the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. BYU won 24-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

No. 2 – Women’s Volleyball Reaches Final Four

December 8, 2018

With their early-season win over No. 1 Stanford, BYU Women’s Volleyball spent most of the season as the top team in the country, winning their first 28 matches before dropping their regular-season finale at Loyola Marymount.

Even with the loss, the Cougars earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, giving them home-court advantage through the first four rounds.

They swept through Stony Brook and Utah in the first two rounds, then dispatched No. 16 Florida in four sets. That set up an Elite Eight matchup with No. 5 seed Texas. The Cougars played one of their best matches of the season against the Longhorns, taking them down in three sets behind Veronica Jones-Perry’s 25 kills.

The win punched their ticket to the Final Four, and even though they lost their rematch with Stanford, their deep tournament run capped off one of the best season’s in the program’s storied history.

No. 1 – Football Upsets No. 6 Wisconsin

September 15, 2018

BYU Football’s 2018 season was the epitome of a rollercoaster year, and the highest of the highs came in their third game of the season. Following a season-opening win over Arizona and a home-opening loss to Cal, the Cougars traveled to Madison to take on No. 6 Wisconsin.

The Badgers decimated BYU at LaVell Edwards Stadium 40-6 in 2017, so any outcome closer than that would have made Cougar fans feel OK.

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Instead, BYU beat the Badgers at their own game, winning the battle in the trenches and going toe-to-toe with Wisconsin’s physicality.

Even though the Badgers outgained the Cougars by more than 80 total yards, Skyler Southam’s 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter gave BYU a 24-21 lead, and the defense held firm from there. Wisconsin had one final opportunity late to tie the game, but Kalani Sitake used two of his three timeouts to successfully ice Wisconsin’s kicker, who missed a 42-yard field goal to seal the upset for the Cougars.

Even though Wisconsin failed to live up to preseason expectations in 2018, the upset over the Badgers is BYU Football’s biggest win since knocking off No. 3 Oklahoma in 2009.

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