Here’s three reasons why you may see the Cougars on top of the Big 12 Conference at the conclusion of the 2025 football season.

1. Good, but not necessarily great

The Big 12 is going to featured more than several good and solid teams this season, although no clear team that will reach true greatness. At least that’s the case on paper with many preseason prognosticators excluding Big 12 teams from their top 25 rankings, but having been more than gracious in assigning several teams top 25 status.

It just so happens that BYU has been one of those teams consistently ranked just inside the top 25 or just outside of it. So, given the lack of truly great Big 12 opponents, rising above the slew of solid, but not spectacular competition may not be that onerous of a task.

BYU should be able to field and good and competitive team this season that should be in every game played within the conference. Coming out on top of those games consistently isn’t an easy task, but as BYU clearly showed last season, doing as much isn’t as big of a stretch as anyone believed at this time last year.

2. Dominant defense

I dislike most cliches, but I’m going to throw out a relevant one here concerning BYU football, and it’s that defense wins championships.

Fraught with presenting a brand new starting quarterback this season, the Cougars will have to rely on stellar defensive play to get over on most opponents, particularly during the first part of the season as Bear Bachmeier begins to settle in. The good news is that BYU should pose a very strong defensive this unit led by standouts like linebackers Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly, along with senior safety Tanner Wall and Utah transfer defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa.

BYU’s defensive unit should be able to limit opposing offensive production and therefore keep the Cougars within striking distance in every game played this coming season. Should BYU’s offense prove to have just enough, then it could very well equate to winning a Big 12 Conference Championship.

3. Favorable schedule

BYU’s initial slate of Big 12 opponents appears to be winnable, which should work well in helping develop BYU’s young quarterback for the gauntlet from mid-October to mid-November when the Cougars take on Utah, Iowa State, Texas Tech and TCU in consecutive weeks.

But the front end has BYU playing games versus a Colorado team on the road with a lot of question marks, at home versus a beatable West Virginia squad and then a road outing at Arizona, a team that proved relatively hapless throughout last season. In short, the schedule is favorable in terms of stacking up wins at the outset and then being well prepared to take on tougher teams later in the season.

In short, if the Big 12 Conference proved anything last season, it’s that the team prognosticated to finish at the bottom, or very well near it (Arizona State) could very well wind up on top of everyone else. So, why not BYU this season?