BYU Football: Athon rankings for BYU, Opponents
By Adam Gibby
174 days away from the first kickoff of the season we have one of the first more known preseason rankings out, and BYU Football may be higher than you think.
Athlon Sports recently released the rankings for all 130 FBS teams going into next season. Although fans would like to see BYU Football higher than they currently are, it is important to remember that the Cougars are coming off a 7-6 season, despite how good the bowl game felt.
A 7-6 season would rank most G5 teams (whether considered P5 or not BYU is normally ranked as a G5) in the 60-70 range and anything above that is impressive.
The Cougars came onto the list ranked at No. 53 which is respectable given their low recruiting rank and record from 2018. They come ahead of teams like Arizona, Vanderbilt and Louisville. In total, they ranked higher than 24 P5 teams and lower than ten G5/Independent teams.
Last season, the Cougars were ranked No. 70 after the regular season, again showing the experts are confident that BYU is heading in the right direction despite the lowest P5 recruiting class this past year.
Other teams on BYU’s schedule are ranked as the following (bold is home game):
Utah No. 16
Tennessee No. 47
USC No. 48
Washington No. 14
Toledo No. 89
South Florida No. 81
Boise State No. 28
Utah State No. 31
Liberty No. 108
Idaho State NR
UMass No. 128
San Diego State No. 45
Projections
Obviously these rankings are not anywhere near to the final preseason rankings that will come out days before week one. There will still be changes with transfers going on, injuries and other circumstances that could affect teams between now and then.
Looking at this schedule however, BYU would be projected to likely go anywhere between 7-5 and 9-3. Yes that is a large range but here is the breakdown.
SHOULD WIN : Idaho state, UMass, Liberty, Toledo and South Florida
TOSS-UPS:, USC, San Diego State, Utah, Utah State, and Boise State
LIKELY LOSSES: Tennessee and Washington
Even though Utah is the second highest rated team in the rankings, it’s The Holy War and crazy stuff happens. With the game being as close as it has been just about every year, and considering the Cougars are literally talking about it every day, it has to be a toss-up with a lean towards Utah.
As far a Tennessee goes, despite them being only a few spots higher than BYU Football in the rankings, winning at an SEC venue that is not Arkansas is very difficult to do.
Between the five toss-up games, the most likely scenario is BYU going either 2-3 or 3-2 which would put them at a 7-5 or 8-4 record, which again considering they get ranked as a G5 team more than a P5 , that would put them around the No. 53 spot.
What do you think? Is BYU ranked too high? Too low?