Cougars could make history before they ever take the field in September

Kalani Sitake is on a mission to win games and earn consistent national respect, and after 10 years as BYU’s head football coach, he’s almost there.

Sitake’s Cougars are 23-4 over the last two seasons and BYU’s No. 11 ranking in the final AP Top 25 matches the program’s best finish since the former Cougar fullback was on his church mission in 1996.

With key starters returning from BYU’s 12-2 season, including quarterback Bear Bachmeier, running back LJ Martin (the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year, mind you) and linebacker Isaiah Glasker, the Cougars are primed to keep winning, but it’s the court of public opinion where they have lagged.

Until now.

The early returns on 2026 preseason projections are unlike what BYU has seen before: No. 8 (New York Times), No. 9 (Sports Illustrated), No. 10 (PFF College), No. 10 (Fox), No. 11 (ESPN), No. 12 (CBS) and No. 13 (On3).

If any of those assumptions hold true, the Cougars will take the field against Utah Tech on Sept. 5 with their highest preseason ranking since 1985 (No. 10) and possibly the highest ever. Most importantly, what a lofty start can do is give BYU a better chance to contend at the end of the season.

Despite the arguments that early polls don’t mean anything, they certainly influence the narrative for what the initial College Football Playoff rankings will look like. This past season, the teams in the AP Top 10 and the first CFP poll, apart from Miami, mirrored each other. Being among the early investors reaps the best benefits.

BYU has a history with the AP poll that needs improving. Having to leapfrog all the crocodiles just to get to the lily pad is a hazardous way to go, and with no guarantee for a happy landing.

Marc Wilson’s Cougars started 1979 unranked and finished No. 13 at 11-1. In 1980, Jim McMahon’s group began unranked and went 12-1 to finish No. 12. Steve Young’s 1983 team started unranked and finished 11-1 and No. 7. Even in Robbie Bosco’s 1984 national championship season, BYU had to climb from the unranked to No. 1 with a perfect 13-0 record.

Steve Sarkisian’s school-record 14-1 season in 1996 also started unranked and finished No. 5. Max Hall’s 2007 team began unranked and finished 11-2 and No. 14. Zach Wilson’s 2020 COVID-19 season started outside the top 25, and BYU finished 11-1 and ranked No. 11.

In 2024, Jake Retzlaff and the Cougars went from unranked to No. 13 with an 11-2 season. Last season, with a true freshman quarterback, BYU went from unranked to No. 11 with the most wins (12-2) in 24 years.

Big finishes after small starts. Just imagine if those teams began their seasons with the same national respect they had garnered the year before. In those moments, a single loss on a rough day wouldn’t have been so debilitating. For now, in January, it looks like the Cougars might finally pull it off, but it’s up to them to hold it together over the next eight months.

BYU’s No. 13 final AP ranking in 2024 figured to have the Cougars propped up to be with the big boys to begin 2025, but Retzlaff’s departure changed everything, including BYU’s national appeal. Instead of a lofty start, they were the first team left out of the preseason AP Top 25, and instead of a big finish, when the CFP pairings were announced, BYU was also among the first teams out.

So close, but too far.

Sports aren’t fair, and unexpected things pop up from time to time, but for the mission that Sitake is on — winning games and earning the kind of national respect that carries over from season to season — he has BYU at a hinge point, with momentum leaning their way.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.