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BYU head coach Kalani Sitake watches his players line up for a play during spring camp in Provo on Friday, March 17, 2023.

Nate Edwards, BYU Photo

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BYU players run onto the field before the game against Liberty at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe talks to Cougar fans at the BIG Party celebrating BYU joining the Big 12 conference that took place in Provo on Saturday, July 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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BYU head coach Kalani Sitake talks to reporters at the conclusion of the first day of 2023 spring camp at the indoor practice facility in Provo on Monday, March 6, 2023.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU players run onto the field before the 41-20 Cougar loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU head coach Kalani Sitake walks into LaVell Edwards Stadium before the game against Utah Tech on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Now that the fanfare with the official move to the Big 12 is in the rearview mirror, it’s time to start looking down the road.

Everyone knows that football has the highest profile and it’s common for prognosticators to start guessing long before the season begins.

So where do some of these predictions say BYU will finish in 2023 in its new league?

Here’s a sampling:

• ESPN’s Football Power Index: The Cougars will be 5-7.
• Shehan Jeyarajah, CBS Sports: BYU will be under 5.5 wins.
• Pete Fiutak, College Football News: The Cougars win total will be 6 or 7 games.
• Cam Mellor, College Football Network: BYU will finish 7-5.
• Luke Brum, Mike Farrell Sports: The Cougars will have a record of 5-7.
• Steven Lassan, Athlon Sports: BYU will be 11th in the 14-team league.

Not a lot of faith in the Cougars, is there?

That’s not something that bothers Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake very much.

“What’s the rate of success at predicting all of it?” Sitake said. “I don’t know who those guys are, but I’ll be sure to tell the team. I’m not really worried about what everybody’s predicting. It’s good. Let’s just fly under the radar and figure out what we can do to make some people wrong.

“But proving them wrong isn’t our motivation. Our motivation is to prove ourselves right, how we feel, how we believe. I can’t predict what’s going to happen either, but I have a really good feeling that we’re in a good spot.”

Some of the reason for the pessimism is the fact that BYU went 7-5 in 2022 and lost some of its top playmakers (QB Jaren Hall, WR Puka Nacua, DBs Kaleb Hayes, D’Angelo Mandell and Gabe Jeudy-Lally, and OLs Blake Freeland, Harris LaChance, Clark Barrington and Campbell Barrington).

The rest, however, is because the Cougars are going from being independent to playing in an elite conference. History hasn’t generally been kind to newcomers in that situation.

Of course, BYU has some advantages in that regard.

For one, Sitake has been through that transition before when he was the defensive coordinator at Utah in 2011. He said he feels very similarly now to how he did back then.

“Most of what I feel is excitement for the student-athletes and the fans,” Sitake said last week. “There will be opportunities that we’re going to have, the extra resources and the different platforms. I think that’s the thing that I go to the most when I remember what it was like, back when I was at Utah and we went to the Pac-12.”

He said he believes that while his experience before is useful, it won’t all be the same.

“I think we’re able to do some things that are very similar but also do some things that are a little different because BYU is a different institution than Utah,” Sitake said. “But I think all of its positive. The ones who benefit the most from it are the student-athletes.”

The Cougars also have the experience of director of athletics Tom Holmoe, who coached in the Pac-12.

“I think that has helped a little bit,” Holmoe said. “People might snicker and say, ‘now you’ll see what it is really like to play in the big time.’ I get it. I’ve played in the big time and it’s hard. Game after game after game, you have to be at your best. You have to stay healthy. You have to have great depth.”

He explained that he thinks being in a Power Five conference will help BYU in recruiting but also doesn’t see a set timeframe for when everything will fall into place.

“It will take a little time,” Holmoe said.