How BYU went from lightly regarded to highly respected

Before the season, folks said no.
Analytics from a year ago said no.
Prognosticators who had Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Arizona atop the league standings in the preseason said BYU would finish 13th.
Pick Six Previews said no.
BYU just jumped Notre Dame in the AP Top 25 rankings Sunday and now stands at No. 11.
Pick Six Previews is a comprehensive matrix-driven college football magazine produced by Brett Ciancia. The magazine has research that includes interviews with every major college football program and uses 247Sports Recruiting rankings as a big basis for breaking down leagues and teams.
In the 2024 edition, Ciancia’s top four Big 12 teams followed exactly how the media voted in preseason with Utah first, followed by K-State and OSU tied with UCF.
Today, BYU and Iowa State are 4-0 and undefeated on the season and sit atop the Big 12 standings.
According to recruiting rankings, BYU’s past five-year average ranking is No. 66 nationally with the No. 44 class in 2024, No. 65 in 2023, No. 55 in 2022, No. 72 in 2021 and No. 79 in 2020.
BYU’s average of 66 is significantly worse than every Big 12 opponent the Cougars have defeated this season.
The five-year average of Oklahoma State is 39.
The average for Arizona is 58.
K-State’s number is 52.
Baylor is 44.
UCF, BYU’s opponent Saturday, has an average rank in the past five classes of 56 and Utah is among the best at 31, yet the Utes have lost three straight games in their inaugural season in this league.
So, what does all this mean?
Obviously, these recruiting rankings are supposed to tell a story of talent on rosters.
If so, why is BYU 4-0 when going up against talent that so-called experts in the field recognize to be superior?
I posed this question to people who have coached, played and competed at a high level.
Their answers varied, but an underlying theme is that chemistry, cohesiveness and teamwork are extremely important in sports. Often, those factors can overcome opposing talent.
This also includes the “buy-in” to a system, and how effective the culture is on the team. Do players pay attention? Is practice and weight-room training at a high level? Do players listen, learn and improve or do they cut corners?
They also said different teams are motivated by different forces and there are different levels of competitiveness once games begin. This can be interesting when it comes to NIL. Do players show up for the money or their teammates?
Bronco Mendenhall cautioned against what he called entitlement in some talent, a feeling they were owed a spot or role. He saw that to be a destroyer of teams.
Lastly, they mentioned coaching. That doesn’t mean it is last on the list, but good coaching develops talent. Good coaching inspires and motivates. Great coaching leads to higher levels of execution, fewer mistakes, penalties and frustration.
There may be another reason BYU is beating teams considered more talented. It’s the chip-on-the-shoulder philosophy.
This team finished last season 0-5 and was embarrassed. It hated it. The Cougars despised what was said about their performance, their friends, their effort and record.
This became exacerbated in July when preseason rankings had them near the basement.
These kinds of elements of disrespect trigger things in competitive athletes. It is a force that can be used as a push, or just another pity pool to wade in.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake has declared for months that he has seen things in his team that have encouraged him, that they are improved and very good, but with the caveat that they have not played their best football yet.
Players have parroted each other in summer and fall that they genuinely love each other, play for each other, and do not turn on one another when adversity hits. This seems kind of cheesy, but there might be something to it.
When BYU trailed OSU last Friday 35-31 with 73 seconds left and were 75 yards away from a needed touchdown for a win, that team needed everything to fall into place almost perfectly for QB Jake Retzlaff to hit Darius Lassiter for the 35-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the game.
How did that happen when OSU’s talent level was 37 ranking points higher than BYU over a five-year span?
If you know the answer, bottle it and sell it. It’s a valuable potion.
It’s why Vanderbilt beat Alabama and why Northern Illinois beat Notre Dame.
This is why college sports is so intriguing, week after week, year after year.