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 enjoy your BYU fandom for a moment.
"D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me..."
My apologies to Aretha Franklin for co-opting the lyrics to her classic hit, but the song playing in the BYU locker room should be "Disrespect". The shade being thrown at the Cougars continues to come from the AP Poll voters who on a weekly basis give some courtesy votes to Kalani Sitake's squad, but won't actually give them a seat at the Top 25 table.
Despite finishing 11-2 last season, obliterating Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, ending the season ranked No. 13 nationally, and starting this season 2-0 while outscoring their opponents 96-3 -- including a Power Four win over Stanford -- the Cougars continue to essentially be ranked No. 26 as the team with the most votes outside the Top 25.
The lack of national recognition can create pessimism among the BYU faithful, but Too Optimistic Tuesday doesn't exist to let Cougar fans spiral into the abyss of sports melancholy.
Under Kalani Sitake, BYU thrives in the face of disrespect. As coach Kalani likes to say, "They don't know, but they 'bout to find out!"
Remember the UCF game last year
BYU fans who are grumbling about the disrespect being thrown at BYU by the AP Poll voters, my advice to you is to remember what happened last year against UCF.
To refresh your memory, the Cougars were 7-0 and ranked No. 11 in the country as they traveled to Florida to face a UCF team that was 3-4 and riding a four-game losing streak.
Somehow, the oddsmakers made UCF 2.5-point favorite.
To quote the Michael Jordan meme, the Cougars took that personally.
Kalani Sitake took his team on the road and they absolutely annihilated the Knights. BYU was leading 34-10 at the end of the third quarter before taking their foot off the gas pedal and cruising to an easy 37-24 victory. The Cougars climbed two spots in the polls after that win, all the way up to No. 9 in the country.
The same can happen this year. As long as the Cougars keep winning, the national ranking --and the national respect -- will follow.
In the end, it really doesn't matter where BYU is ranked after two games. What will matter is where they are ranked after their critical four-game stretch starting on October 18th at home against No. 18 Utah, followed by road games versus No. 12 Iowa State and No. 17 Texas Tech, then back home against a solid TCU squad.
Winning those games is BYU's long-term path to national relevance and credibility. The opportunity is there. The Cougars just need to take it.
If anything, being unranked today will only throw fuel on the fire of disrespect already burning in Provo.
And for now, that D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T can actually be a good thing.