I think we can all agree that the 2024-25 football season was a tremendous success for BYU in their second season in the Big 12 conference.
I mean, who among us didn't have to scrape our jaw off the floor after seeing Kalani Sitake's team outperform basement-level expectations to become a top-15 team in the nation, standing atop an 11-2 record?
A dominant win over Kansas State proved this team was capable of anything. A road win over SMU looked better by the week. A merciless beating of Colorado in the Alamo Bowl was the whipped cream on an ice cream sundae of awesome. The secret ingredient? Awesomeness extract -- and lots of it.
But this upcoming season opens a can of question marks, and this punctuation pile cannot be satiated by one mere period. The chief inquiry? Is BYU football equipped for a second straight season of exceptional performance on the gridiron?
BYU Football could be a power next season
ESPN sure seems to believe so, placing the Cougars as the 10th-ranked squad in the nation following Spring ball. Citing the return of impact players like Jake Retzlaff, LJ Martin, Chase Roberts, Isaiah Glasker, and Jack Kelley as key reasons to expect more of the same, supplemented by incoming transfers like Keanu Tanuvasa, Andrew Gentry, and Tausili Akana.
"The Cougars came close to making the CFP last season," shared a list from ESPN, "and with Retzlaff, Martin, and Roberts, they should be more explosive on offense.
The Cougars reached as high as 6th in the nation upon eclipsing 9-0, but stumbled down the stretch with a disappointing loss to Kansas and a heartbreaking collapse in the final moments of a battle with Arizona State. Still, taking down Colorado to a deafening tune.
Sustained success is far from a certainty in the ever-chaotic Big 12 Conference. Just ask TCU from a few seasons ago, reaching the national championship game in a season sandwiched between 5-win campaigns, or Utah, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State whose recent history suggested that each team was primed for a dominant romp through the league.
Once again, this football team is shrouded in more mystery than knowledge, but national respect is a rarity for the BYU football squad. Have the Cougars officially arrived on the national scene, or is this a flock facing an uphill battle?