Too Optimistic Tuesday: In beating Notre Dame, BYU claimed the mantle of elite national powerhouse

Welcome to Too Optimistic Tuesday! This weekly column reminds BYU fans why they should count their many blessings and have an abundance of hope.

Every season in every sport is full of both ups and downs. This column will amplify the "ups" and help fans quickly recover from the "downs". So put on your blue-tinted goggles and just indulge me in some hyperbole while enjoying your BYU fandom for a moment.

This wasn't BYU's first big-time win, but beating No. 2 Notre Dame is different than any previous victory

It's hard to properly frame up the short- and long-term importance of No. 8 BYU's program-altering win over No. 2 Notre Dame. Wins like this can't be looked at in isolation. Context matters.

In the short term, BYU is now one of the clear favorites to not only make the 12-team field in the 2026 College Football Playoffs, but compete for a title.

In the long term, this victory should give BYU a seat at the "college football big boys' table".

Before joining a Power Four conference, BYU had racked up some impressive wins that were at least somewhat on par with the victory over Notre Dame, yet each of those previous wins were accompanied with a dismissive "but..."

In 1984 the eventual national champion Cougars out of the Western Athletic Conference kicked off the season beating No. 3 Pitt...but the Panthers ended the season with a terrible 3-7-1 record.

In 1990 Ty Detmer and the Cougs thrillingly beat No. 1 Miami...but then went just 1-2 against other non-WAC "power" schools, losing 32-16 to an unranked Oregon team then getting blitzed 65-14 by Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.

In 2009 as a member of the Mountain West Conference the No. 20 Cougars started the season beating No. 3 Oklahoma...but two games later BYU was embarrassed 54-28 by an unranked Florida State team.

When BYU was a non-power conference feel good story, those previous wins over Pitt, Miami, and Oklahoma were thrilling wins in isolation, but they had no staying power.

This victory over No. 2 Notre Dame is completely different.

This wasn't just a win for BYU. It was their arrival as a national powerhouse

Everything that has happened in BYU's glorious football history feels like it was leading up to this moment against Notre Dame. For the first time in a long, long time, the Cougars were not only given the opportunity to prove themselves against one of the nation's elite programs, but to do it in front of a national audience. The combination of College GameDay coming to Provo and BYU playing in the coveted 7:30 PM Eastern slot on ABC cannot be overstated. That window is primetime appointment viewing for college football fans, and the entire college football universe just witnessed how good BYU truly is.

After getting dismissively frozen out of the last two College Football Playoffs, it was easy for the national media to ignore BYU. That's no longer an option.

BYU's students blew away ESPN's GameDay crew. "Brother" Pat McAfee was all-in on the Cougs. Announcers Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, two well-known SEC homers who were part of ESPN's blatant exclusion of BYU's CFP merits last year, witnessed with their own eyes that the Cougars can compete for a national title.

With the eyes of the football world on Provo, Utah, the BYU Cougars transformed themselves from a competitive team in what many believe to be a second rate Big 12 conference into a national powerhouse. CBS Sports said it best when they proclaimed, "The Cougars officially clinched their spot among the national elite."

The one hard-to-answer questions BYU fans have faced for years in trying to establish national credibility has been this: "Well who have the Cougars actually beaten?"

Kalani Sitake's program no longer needs to answer that question.

BYU didn't just win a game against Notre Dame.

BYU transformed itself into a national powerhouse.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow