Feeling blue, Cougar fans? Upset with a lack of national prominence by BYU's football and men's basketball programs?
Fear not, others are more than making up for it.Entering the week, BYU had five nationally ranked teams in fall sports.
Women's volleyball, women's soccer, men's golf (which concludes in the spring) and both cross country programs are meeting a challenge issued by athletic director Rondo Fehlberg and endorsed by BYU president Merrill J. Bateman to earn top 20 recognition.
"We're delighted with what every one of these teams are doing," Felhberg said of the department- Without much help from the revenue sports, BYU placed 18th in the Sears Cup competition a year ago. The award recognizes all-sports excellence based on a point system.
"We want every sport to do well," said associate athletic director Val Hale.
"Dollar for dollar, BYU gets a bang for its buck," Hale said when comparing BYU's athletic budget to such national powers as Ohio State. The secret to the Cougars' success, he adds, is combining great coaches, great athletes with adequate funding.
Though meeting Title IX requirements of equality hasn't been easy for any school financially, Fehlberg said BYU is committed to not just fielding teams to meet quotas.
"If we do it, we're determined to do it as well as we can," he said.
The objective, laced with the underlying mission of "how we get there is just as important as getting there," is to get every school sport in the top 20 nationally.