I know I say this every year, but this time, it might really be BYU football's year.
On the heels of two consecutive 11+ win seasons, Kalani Sitake has lifted his program to a position never before seen in Provo. The Cougars are not only a power conference member, but perhaps the most formidable program in their league, depending on how you feel about Texas Tech running it back for another year.
It's a constant struggle to temper expectations when BYU football approaches a season with more momentum than ever before. Legitimately exceptional talent is joining the program after an incredible 2026 recruiting season, and that's on top of BYU being one of the leaders in returning production from a season ago -- a season in which they won 12 games and lost to just one team: the fourth-seeded squad in the College Football Playoff.
So if it's so hard to stifle my optimism, perhaps a better solution is to let it all out right here, right now. With the wind to my back and a sparkle in my eye, I'm going to make four outrageous predictions in the hopes that at least one of them come true.
I'm getting it out of my system, and will accept any and all praise for each prediction that comes true.
BYU reaches the College Football Playoff
It's been a long time coming after two consecutive years where BYU felt like the biggest snub from the 12-team bracket. It will always be a boys club at the top, stuffed full of SEC and Big Ten representation while the remainder of college football is forced to live off their crumbs. But I believe this is the year where the Cougars finally break down the doors and breach the threshold of the most arrogant and exclusive club in the game.
The national consensus is that the Big 12 Conference is once again a one-bid league. Logic and reason are out the window, but that's the reality of the situation. This means that if BYU hopes to reach the promised land, they'll likely need to win the Big 12 title game in Arlington to secure the Big 12's auto-bid. If not, they sure as heck better be undefeated in-conference during the regular season, perhaps even including including a win over Notre Dame. Speaking of which...
BYU takes down Notre Dame in Provo
This might be the hottest take of the bunch, but this matchup with Notre Dame gives the feeling of an all-time classic in LaVell Edwards Stadium. Two teams that appear prepared to enter this game undefeated and ranked in the top-10, barring a major upset from either side, both BYU and the visiting Irish have a great deal to prove after being the first two teams locked out of the playoff.
It's not a game that will come easily -- Notre Dame could be a legitimate top-five team this year -- but with the benefit of home field and a nothing-to-lose mentality, I believe that the Cougars can scrape out a victory in the biggest game of the season.
Kelly Poppinga's defense doesn't skip a beat
The loss of Jay Hill is a major one, but Kelly Poppinga seems to be the exact replacement that the team's key contributors needed to see to stay put in Provo and resist the lure of Hill and Whittingham in Ann Arbor.
BYU is returning nearly every major contributor to last year's stout unit, and replacing NFL Draftee Jack Kelly with the best linebacker in the transfer portal, Cade Uluave. Poppinga is familiar with the team, with Hill's schemes, and is no newbie to operating a power conference defense -- if he's good enough for Sitake at this point in his career, he's good enough for me.
BYU sends more than six players to the draft
Remember all that returning talent I mentioned? Expect this season to be played on most of their draft profile film reels.
Obvious candidates for the NFL Draft include LJ Martin, preseason All-American Bruce Mitchell, Isaiah Glasker, Cade Uluave, Keanu Tanuvasa, and Evan Johnson -- that's six right there. Each of those players can and should hear their names called in the spring and enter the NFL out of Provo, but the candidates don't stop there.
This is the last dance for many of BYU's best players, and they'll be the reason why Kalani Sitake and company enjoy the best season in program history. That is, if some of my predictions come true.
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