BYU Football: How BYU compares to the ‘eligible’ Big 12 teams
By Adam Gibby
Recent Success
In this section, we will analyze success over the last ten years.
BYU
The Cougars have been Independent for ten years and in those ten years have gone to a bowl game nine times. In those bowl games the Cougars are 5-4. The Cougars have sent two quarterbacks to the NFL, both of which are favored to start this upcoming season. BYU Football has had two coaches, Bronco Mendenhall and Kalani Sitake. The Cougars finished ranked 11th in the AP in 2020 with a final 11-1 record.
Baylor
Baylor has had a rollercoaster of a decade with three New Year Six Bowls, major sexual allegations and a Heisman Trophy winner. The Bears have had four coaches and have gone to eight bowl games with a 5-3 record in those games. Most recently, the Bears posted a 2-7 record in 2020.
Iowa State
For really the first time in their football history, Iowa State started to play well in the last decade. Out of their 16 bowl games ever, six happened in the last decade with the Cyclones going 2-4. The Cyclones have had two coaches, Paul Rhoads and Matt Campbell, with Campbell becoming the first coach to have an overall winning record since the 1970’s. In 2020 the Cyclones posted 9-3 record and No. 9 final ranking in the AP Poll.
Kansas
It was a really rough decade for Kansas, particularly on the back end with new NCAA and other violations surrounding the program. The Jayhawks didn’t play in any bowl games and never posted a season with more than one conference win. They had two sesons where they went winless and their best record came in 2018 when they went 3-9. The Jayhawks have had four coaches in the last decade and finished 0-9 in 2020.
Kansas State
The decade started really strong with the Wildcats finishing 15, 12, and 18 in 2011, 2012 and 2014 in the return on Bill Snyder. However his return slowly became less welcome as the Wildcats posted a 28-23 overall record over the next five seasons. Finally following the 2018 season, Snyder retired and Chris Kileman took over. During the decade, KSU went to eight bowl games but only posted a 3-5 record. In 2020, the Wildcats finished with a 4-6 overall record
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State had a pretty good decade overall. Under Mike Gundy the entire time, the Cowboys went to a Bowl Game in every season including 3 BCS/NY6 bowls. Overall, the Cowboys were an impressive 7-3 in bowl games (although two of the losses were in BCS/NY6). OSU finished ranked six times with their highest being in 2011 when they were No. 3 overall in the final AP Poll. In 2020 the Cowboys went 8-3 and won the Cheez-It Bowl 37-34 against Miami.
Texas Tech
The Texas Tech Red Raiders had an underwhelming decade on the field despite having Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinal HC) and Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) part of the program. The Red Raiders never finished a season ranked and only had three winning seasons, all before 2016. In the four bowl games that Texas Tech played in, they went 2-2. In 2020 the Red Raiders were 4-6 overall.
TCU
The Horned Frogs arrived the Big 12 as one of the hottest teams in the country in 2011. Since then, they have had some really good years finishing in the Top Ten in 2014, 2015, and 2017. They have had the same coach Gary Peterson for the entire decade and have played in seven bowl games going 5-2 in those games. More recently, the Horned Frogs have struggled a bit more going 18-17 in their last three seasons, including 6-4 in 2020.
West Virginia
West Virgina was very consistent over the past ten years, particularly under Dana Holgorsen. The Moutaineers played in eight bowl games however posted a 3-5 record in those games. WVU finished ranked three times, each time in the 17-20 range. Neal Brown took over in 2019 and has an 11-11 overall record, including a 6-4 record in 2020.
Power Rankings for Recent Success
Oklahoma State
TCU
BYU
West Virgina
Baylor
Iowa State
Texas Tech
Kansas State
Kansas