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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/jimbobbypaul on 2023-07-28 19:59:46.
Main hub thread with the full 131 rankings
And there it is, BYU comes in as the 2nd best Group of 5 team on the list. They’re also the 5th ranked team in the current Big 12. I’ve been looking forward to this one. When it comes to a program’s CONSISTENT success over a 40 year period, almost nobody, in any conference (or Independent), does it like BYU. Prior to coach LaVell Edwards’ arrival in 1972, BYU had 0 AP Top 25 finishes in the 40-something years of the poll’s existence. In his 29 years from 1972-2000, he had just 1 losing season, 12 AP Top 25 finishes, a Heisman winner, Doak Walker winner, 4 Davey O’Brien Awards, 7 Sammy Baugh Awards, 34 All-Americans, 19(!) conference titles including 10 straight from 1976-85, and most importantly, 1 national title in 1984. Even since Edwards left they’ve had continued success with 7 more AP Top 25 finishes, 8 double-digit win seasons, and probably a bunch more conference titles if they didn’t go Independent in 2011.
Best Seasons and Highlights
1. 1996: 6. Brigham Young: 14-1 (38.198) 2. 1984: 4. Brigham Young: 13-0 (35.797) 3. 1983: 6. Brigham Young: 11-1 (35.029) 4. 2006: 12. Brigham Young: 11-2 (30.176) 5. 2020: 12. Brigham Young: 11-1 (27.497) 6. 2009: 14. Brigham Young: 11-2 (26.143) 7. 1985: 18. Brigham Young: 11-3 (24.190) 8. 2007: 16. Brigham Young: 11-2 (22.675) 9. 2021: 20. Brigham Young: 10-3 (20.037) 10. 1990: 21. Brigham Young: 10-3 (17.916) 11. 2001: 20. Brigham Young: 12-2 (15.998) 12. 1991: 27. Brigham Young: 8-3-2 (14.627) 13. 1989: 25. Brigham Young: 10-3 (13.172) 14. 1994: 23. Brigham Young: 10-3 (12.739) 15. 2011: 31. Brigham Young: 10-3 (10.263) 16. 2012: 37. Brigham Young: 8-5 (10.228) 17. 2008: 34. Brigham Young: 10-3 (10.076) 18. 1987: 29. Brigham Young: 9-4 (8.821) 19. 2013: 41. Brigham Young: 8-5 (8.506) 20. 1988: 29. Brigham Young: 9-4 (8.397) 21. 2015: 40. Brigham Young: 9-4 (8.123) 22. 2016: 43. Brigham Young: 9-4 (7.646) 23. 1999: 32. Brigham Young: 8-4 (5.179) 24. 1992: 34. Brigham Young: 8-5 (2.711) 25. 1995: 43. Brigham Young: 7-4 (0.383) 26. 1998: 39. Brigham Young: 9-5 (0.030) 27. 2014: 52. Brigham Young: 8-5 (-0.039) 28. 2019: 51. Brigham Young: 7-6 (-1.045) 29. 2022: 55. Brigham Young: 8-5 (-2.324) 30. 1986: 44. Brigham Young: 8-5 (-3.924) 31. 2018: 60. Brigham Young: 7-6 (-5.716) 32. 2010: 59. Brigham Young: 7-6 (-6.673) 33. 1997: 56. Brigham Young: 6-5 (-9.584) 34. 2000: 64. Brigham Young: 6-6 (-10.986) 35. 1993: 58. Brigham Young: 6-6 (-14.612) 36. 2004: 70. Brigham Young: 5-6 (-14.736) 37. 2005: 74. Brigham Young: 6-6 (-15.020) 38. 2002: 77. Brigham Young: 5-7 (-26.882) 39. 2003: 87. Brigham Young: 4-8 (-27.766) 40. 2017: 110. Brigham Young: 4-9 (-36.748) Overall Score: 29094 (28th)
- 344-165-2 record
- 1 national title
- 14 conference titles
- 15-17-1 bowl record
- 11 consensus All-Americans
- 83 NFL players drafted
WAIT!!! BYU FANS, DONT SHOOT!!! I know a lot of BYU fans are going to read this, and you might notice 2 things immediately: I don’t have the 1984 National Championship-winning team as BYU’s best, and I don’t even have them as a top 3 team in 1984. If you want to see why they’re so low, you can skip ahead to their section below, otherwise, hold your horses. This is an unprecedented level of success we haven’t seen in the series so far: 344 wins (11th most by any team), a national title, 14 conference titles in 28 years until they went Independent, 33 bowl games, and no seasons with less than 4 wins. There’s too many good BYU players to shout out, but consensus All-Americans we won’t talk about below are DL Jason Buck (1986) who won the Outland Trophy and was a 1st round pick, OL Mohammed Elewonibi (1989) who also won the Outland Trophy, TE Chris Smith (1990) who set an NCAA TE season record with 1156 receiving yards, QB Ty Detmer (1990, 1991) who won a Heisman, Davey O’Brien Award, Maxwell Award, WAC Offensive POTY, Davey O’Brien Award again, Sammy Baugh Trophy, WAC Offensive POTY again, finished top 10 in Heisman voting 3 times, and set NCAA records for career completions, passing yards, passing TDs, total offense, total TDs, and passer rating…RB Luke Staley (2001) who won the Doak Walker Award, and TE Dennis Pitta (2009), who walked on as a WR in 2003, eventually leaving after 2009 as the NCAA’s career TE receiving yardage leader with 2901 yards. Top alumni include QB Steve Young, C Bart Oates, LB Fred Warner, DE Brett Keisel, OT John Tait, LB Kyle Van Noy, DE Ezekiel Ansah, RB Jamaal Williams, QB Taysom Hill, RB Tyler Allgeier, LS John Denney, S Daniel Sorenson, and WR Austin Collie.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2017 (4-9 overall, Independent)
It was kind of a weird, unexpectedly bad season. What went wrong? Head coach Kalani Sitake was inexperienced, being in just his 2nd season, but still went 9-4 in 2016. QB Tanner Mangum was taking over for the great Taysom Hill, sure, but he was the hero of 2015, salvaging the season when Hill went down in the season opener by beating Nebraska on a Hail Mary in Lincoln and #20 Boise State in back-to-back weeks. Even NFL All-Pro LB Fred Warner was in his senior season with the team. The defense was fine, but the offense would end up as one of the worst in the country, averaging just 17.1 PPG. A 1-7 start saw BYU only beat Portland State 20-6 to open, then lose 0-27 to #13 LSU, 13-19 to Utah, 6-40 to #10 Wisconsin…for 7 straight losses, averaging just 11.0 PPG in them. Against San Jose State, the Spartans fumbled 6 times and BYU won 41-20 for their first win in 2 months, and overall they won 3 of their last 5 games, finishing 4-9. As bad as BYU was, they were “only” my 21st worst team in the country. Mangum had a disappointing year, only playing 8 games because of injuries, throwing for 1540 yards 8 TD 9 INT. RB Squally Canada (great name) ran for 710 yards and 6 TD, and TE Matt Bushman led with 520 receiving yards. Fred Warner had a solid senior season, setting a career high in tackles (87) and was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Since 2017, Kalani Sitake has only had winning seasons at BYU.
5. 2020 (11-1 overall, Independent)
QB Zach Wilson was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school, and in his true freshman season in 2018, he completed 18 of 18 passes for 317 yards and 4 TD in BYU’s bowl game against Western Michigan. 2019 was a bit disappointing though, and 2020 was TBD with covid. Wilson did what he had to in the offseason, training with legendary BYU QB turned coach John Beck, and emerged as not just one of the best QBs, but players, in the country. BYU quickly jumped out to a dominant 3-0 start, beating Navy, Troy, and Louisiana Tech by a combined 148-24. BYU kept winning, against a soft schedule, but dominantly, winning their next 4 to improve to 7-0. #9 BYU at #21 Boise State was the first real test of the season, and the Cougars passed with an A+++, taking a 45-3 lead before winning 51-17. Scheduling an impromptu battle of unbeatens to try and vie for a New Years 6 bowl bid, 9-0 BYU travelled cross-country to play 9-0 Coastal Carolina. Mormons vs Mullets on ESPN College GameDay lived up to the hype, with BYU coming up just a yard short on the final play to lose 17-22. BYU still finished strong, beating a good San Diego State team and 6-3 UCF 49-23 in the Boca Raton Bowl.
BYU finished #11 at 11-1, with one of the best offenses (43.5 PPG, 3rd nationally) and defenses (15.3 PPG allowed, 4th) in the country. Wilson played like a shifty point guard on the field, completing 74% of passes for 3692 yards and 33 TD with just 3 INT. He also ran for 10 TD. Wilson finished 8th in Heisman voting, and if he put up the same stats against a tougher schedule, probably would’ve been a finalist. RB Tyler Allgeier, one of BYU’s finest, ran for 1130 yards and 13 TD on 7.5 YPC. Zach Wilson’s former best friend, WR Dax Milne, led with 1188 receiving yards and 8 TD. OL Brady Christensen was a consensus All-American. Kalani Sitake was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, but there were too many surprisingly good teams in 2020 for him to win.
2020 BYU is my 49th best Group of 5 team since 1983.
4. 2006 (11-2 overall, 8-0 Mountain West)
What a season. BYU had fallen off after LaVell Edwards retired from coaching in 2001, going just 5-7, 4-8, 5-6, and 6-6 from 2002-05, so they were hungry for a big year. QB John Beck returned for his 4th year as a starter and was many peoples’ pick for Mountain West POTY, but would wins be included? A 1-2 start was somewhat excusable, with close losses at Arizona and at #23 Boston College. They wouldn’t lose another game thereafter, beating Utah State 38-0, then Mountain West favorite #17 TCU 31-17. The offense emerged as one of the best in the country, winning their next 6 games by an average score of 42-11. Against 7-4 Utah, #21 BYU had already clinched the Mountain West title and were favored, but hadn’t beaten Utah since 2001. Down 27-31 with one play remaining, 11 yards from the end zone, it was now or never for BYU. Utah dropped 9 defenders into coverage, giving Beck all the time in the world…Utah finally comes after him, Beck fires left where there’s nobody there except one man, TE Jonny Harline. CAUGHT, touchdown, BYU walks off with a 33-31 win. BYU destroyed Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl 38-8, outgaining the Ducks 548-260…
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