This year's goal is the College Football Playoff for the Big 12 representative from Provo, Utah. Last season, BYU believed they deserved a spot among the very best and a shot at the national championship game -- they even finished ranked 13th in the final rankings of the season -- but a tight loss to Arizona State and a soul-stealing upset against Kansas kept the Cougars off the short list.
This season, the ultimate goal is to breach the playoff bracket for the first time as a program, but as always, the odds are always higher that a team will miss the postseason tournament rather than reach it.
Yes, it's ok to cry a bit. The Cougars probably won't be a playoff team this season (though the notes inside my blue glasses insist they're a lock). But if -- if -- this year's BYU team fails to compete for the national championship, Brett McMurphy of On3 Sports has offered a very favorable consolation prize.
NEW: College Football Bowl Projections via@Brett_McMurphy🏆
— On3 (@On3sports) October 6, 2025
More: https://t.co/zGY4F7I71V pic.twitter.com/io2gsQ1sm7
BYU football, welcome to the Pop-Tarts Bowl and a matchup with last season's national runner-up, Notre Dame.
Notre Dame and BYU have historically met up to produce some of the most competitive football one can imagine, though BYU has only come out on top in two meetings all-time. Catholics vs LDS is its own version of a Holy War of sorts, especially when both teams existed as independents during the 2010s and early 2020s.
But beyond the matchup with the Fighting Irish, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has been the best and most entertaining postseason product in college football for years. That's largely thanks to the production of the actual event. From the dancing mascots tearing off their wrappers, to giant Pop-Tarts serving as the winning team's edible trophy, to Pop-Tarts outright returning from the dead, the nation will be watching this game regardless of the on-field competition.
So the Pop Tart mascot toasted and eaten alive in a pagan ritual last year just came back to life to the chorus of Handel’s Messiah.
— Dan Jimenez (@TheDanJimenez) December 28, 2024
How is this not already the National Championship bowl game #PopTartBowl pic.twitter.com/u33m4fFs9F
For BYU football, if missing out on the College Football Playoff is this team's fate, a date with the Pop-Tarts Bowl is about as good of a consolation prize as a team could dream of.