Daily Herald sports writers Darnell Dickson and Brandon Gurney debate and pontificate on the hot BYU sports topics of the week.

1. The Big 12 Conference released the football schedule for all member football programs earlier this week. After reviewing BYU’s schedule, what do you make of it?

GURNEY: It’s one of the best schedules BYU has ever had, and particularly for its slate of home games. Hosting Notre Dame in mid-October is quite the feat, but add Arizona and Arizona State to the home slate, and it’s as good of a seven-game home slate I can ever remember.

I think the one detriment in the schedule is the nine straight games without a single bye. That is going to be a major grind to finish out the season, and especially if the Cougars can advance to the Big 12 Championship Game again. The schedule-makers did BYU no favors by assigning the bye week after just three games played, and the toll it could cause very well may see Kalani Sitake’s team run out of gas down the stretch, when it matters most.

DICKSON: I have a hard enough time predicting what BYU football will do let alone how good 12 opponents might be in 2026. The transfer portal and NIL can make a team a contender seemingly overnight. Remember when we looked at the 2025 BYU football schedule and there was a five-game stretch that looked exceedingly tough? The Cougars went 4-1 in those five games with the only loss at Texas Tech. Having seven home games is cool. Having a Big 12 game in the second week against Arizona is not.

I did like the double-bye schedule the Cougars enjoyed in 2025, so having just one bye in 2026 is troublesome of there are any key injuries. And I wish the Big 12 would throw BYU a bone and get the rivalry game with Utah on Thanksgiving weekend. Just once. You won’t regret it, guys.

2. The game that sticks out most is almost assuredly BYU’s home game versus Notre Dame on October 17. The Irish have proved hard to schedule at home in the past and infamously opted out of a Pop-tarts Bowl invite at the close of last season. How significant is it for BYU to host Notre Dame at home, all factors considered and how big of a game do you anticipate?

DICKSON: To be honest, I’m surprised Notre Dame didn’t try to back out of the game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Good on you, Irish, for living up to a contract after dodging the Cougars and Provo for years. Is it something we said?

I think it will be a huge game, The Irish open with a neutral-site game against Wisconsin then home games vs. Rice and Michigan State, followed by road games at Purdue and North Carolina. Notre Dame should be pretty road weary when they come to LES and other than a home game against Miami on Nov. 7, the Cougars should be the toughest test for the Irish in 2026. Sounds like fun.

GURNEY: Well, circumstance was certainly BYU’s friend in this regard, specifically USC discontinuing its series with the Irish and Cal backing out of its scheduled game with the Cougars. But I doubt any Cougar fans are complaining about their team scheduling Notre Dame in lieu of the Cal Bears, and especially since the first game of the two-game series will be played at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The game versus Notre Dame provides the Cougars will a big opportunity to prove itself versus national competition. The stated gripe the CFP committee had with BYU throughout last year’s selection process was that the committee felt the Cougars hadn’t proved able to compete with top programs. Well, enter Notre Dame, which will likely be undefeated when October 17 rolls around and most likely ranked inside the top 10. A win should assign the Cougars a lot of the credibility they lacked last season, or at least it should.

3. Which other game on the schedule, other than the home game versus Notre Dame intrigues you most and why?

GURNEY: I think it’s great that BYU will play both Arizona and Arizona State at home. I’m a big proponent of natural rivalries and feel such rivalries played a big role in promoting college football to the stature it currently has. The constant conference realignments have sort of diminished these rivalries, but with Arizona and Arizona State on schedule, it provides two games at LaVell Edwards Stadium that perhaps mean more than games against, say West Virginia or UCF.

From my perspective, BYU should play both Arizona and Arizona State, and probably even Colorado on a yearly basis, along with Utah.

DICKSON: I hate the unwieldy size of the conference where you don’t play everybody every year. How can you build up any rivalries when you play every other year or every two years? No Texas Tech for BYU in 2026, no Kansas State, no Colorado, no Houston, no West Virginia or Oklahoma State. It’s probably only going to get worse in that regard. However, other than the Notre Dame matchup, I guess Arizona State in Provo could be fun. Maybe Krazy Kenny Dillingham will give us some good mean mugs or quotes.

4. The BYU men’s basketball team has proven to be very good again this season, but with some notable weak spots. In your opinion, what is the biggest weak spot for this Cougar basketball team and can it effectively be addressed come tournament time?

DICKSON: The problem with BYU right now is consistency from anyone other than the Big Three. Kennard Davis Jr. seems absolutely lost on offense right now and it’s affecting his play on the defensive end. Opponents have to focus so much on AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders and Robert Wright III it produces open looks for the other guys on the court and nobody is making those shots consistently. This is obviously a different team than last year, where Kevin Young was comfortable playing 11 guys in his rotation. But somebody other than Dybantsa, Saunders and Wright need to figure out their role, step up and make good basketball plays on both ends of the floor.

GURNEY: Depth is a huge concern, but I feel the lack of consistent 3-point shooting could prove the death knell to BYU’s hopes of a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Richie Saunders has proven too inconsistent, and although Robert Wright seems to be on the uptick in this area, others need to step up big, which brings me to Kennard Davis.

With the so-called Big Three of Saunders, Wright and AJ Dybantsa receiving increasing defensive focus, it’s going to leave a lot of open looks for Davis, and it already has. David is shooting 34% from behind the arc currently, which isn’t good enough. He needs to raise that along with players like Mihailo Boskovic, Tyler Mrus and the others if BYU is going to make a serious run in the tournament.

5. The BYU women’s basketball team defeated No. 19-ranked Texas Tech on Wednesday and is now 15-4 on the season. How big of a surprise has their success been so far this season and what’s stood out to you regarding the team’s play, in general?

GURNEY: For me, it’s been a huge surprise. Sure, I expected to see improvements under first-year coach Lee Cummard, but considering it’s January 23, and BYU has already eclipsed its win total from last season is pretty remarkable.

This team’s culture appears to be much improved, and it’s evidenced by how hard the players crash the glass on the defensive end. During an interview session last week, both players and Cummard constantly brought up the team’s focus on hunting down loose balls and winning the rebounding battle. So far, so good for a team that certainly warrants more attention moving forward to the final stretch of the season.

DICKSON: I gotta be honest. Despite the success of the team so far (15-4 overall, 4-3 Big 12) they are a tough watch sometimes. This is a really young club and they still make way too many unforced turnovers and miss way too many open shots. Even in the victory against Texas Tech, the Cougars went nearly the entire first quarter without a turnover but still finished with 18. Making simple basketball plays is a challenge at times. Yet Cummard has the team playing hard and the culture is good. If the young players continue to improve, they just might have a shot at making the post-season.