Neither of these takes are true. I’m sure there are a few delusional enough to think BYU can come in and win the Big 12, but there are delusional dumb fans in every fanbase. There are fans I know who think BYU will win 10 games this year (or at least they did before yesterday). But that’s the exception.
However, it’s also not true that most fans thought BYU would only win 3 or 4 games. That’s below the Vegas over/under and BYU fans have never been particularly pessimistic about their chances – certainly not in preseason.
Before yesterday, the most common prediction was 6-6, maybe 7-5. I often said that, given all the change and turnover, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything between 4-8 and 8-4. Given the two easy wins (Sam Houston St and SUU), anything less seemed unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely. And anything more relied on too many best case scenarios against too many good teams.
I received some pushback on the 4-8 (guessing I’d receive less now), but I’d say the general consensus of most (not all, but most) fans was probably in the 5-7 to 8-4 range.
Incidentally, I’m not sure that I’d (much) change my season prediction for BYU. Absolutely BYU didn’t look great playing against what should have been an easy opponent….but that’s mitigated by 2 major factors
1) it’s week 1 – weird stuff happens. Sometimes it’s a precursor, sometimes it’s an aberration
2) more importantly, BYU didn’t look good. But neither did BYU’s future opponents.
TCU played a sloppy game (10 penalties for 78 yards) and lost to Colorado. Colorado may or may not be a good team…but TCU certainly doesn’t seem to be.
Texas Tech lost to Wyoming.
Oklahoma St had as much difficulty with Central Arkansas as BYU did with Sam Houston (both clearly won….but neither ever seemed in control)
That’s 2.5 games I had marked as likely losses that suddenly seem winnable. Add that to the already-winnable games against Cincy, Iowa St, West Virginia and perhaps Kansas…and 8 wins seems possible. Unlikely and optimistic, but possible.
BYU clearly doesn’t have the horsepower to keep up with the top teams in the conference…but this may be a bit of a down year for the conference as a whole and an opportunity to pick up cheap wins. Maybe that says more about the conference, but it’s still a beacon of hope.
.
Loading ...
