When BYU bolted from the Mountain West Conference in 2010 to become an independent in football and join the West Coast Conference, some MWC schools took it more personally than others, including Wyoming.
Even though Utah and TCU also left the MWC, the Cowboys turned their angst on the Cougars. An offended athletic director, Tom Burman, was even heard saying Wyoming would never schedule BYU again.
The Cougars and Cowboys had been playing each other since 1922 and shared conference memberships in the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference (1921-1937), Skyline Conference (1938-1961), Western Athletic Conference (1962-1998) and Mountain West (1999-2010).
There was no shortage of classic battles in all sports, but football and basketball delivered the memory makers — both good and bad, and sometimes ugly when it came to religion and race relations. Through it all, the games played on.
Fresh off a 33-20 defeat in Laramie in 1981, then-BYU football coach LaVell Edwards summed up his feelings for Wyoming when he told reporters, “I’d rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie.”
Not surprisingly, the respective fan bases reacted differently.
BYU did what Wyoming could not. The Cougars had the resources, the television partners (ESPN and BYUtv) and a national following to go off on their own — a choice that eventually led them to the Big 12. Wyoming didn’t like being left behind and they let the Cougars know it.
The December thaw
True to its word, Wyoming gave BYU the cold shoulder until 2016, when the two rivals were reunited on a neutral field in San Diego at the Poinsettia Bowl. The pair of rosters featured 19 future NFL players, including Wyoming’s Josh Allen and BYU’s Jamaal Williams, Fred Warner, Michael Davis and Taysom Hill (injured).
A driving rain seemed appropriate as this stormy relationship delivered another classic finish with BYU’s Kai Nacua intercepting Allen in the final minute to preserve a 24-21 Cougars victory.
With too much history to ignore, Burman and BYU’s Tom Holmoe agreed to a restoration of sorts, bringing future matchups back for football and basketball.
Return to Provo
When the Cowboys ran out of the locker room on Sept. 24, 2022, at LaVell Edwards Stadium, it marked their first game in Provo since 2010.
Prior to kickoff, BYU paid tribute to the “Black 14” — the players kicked off the 1969 Wyoming football team because they considered wearing black armbands during a BYU game to protest a past Latter-day Saint policy on race and priesthood. Two members of the “Black 14” John Griffin and Mel Hamilton participated in “lighting the Y” before No. 19 BYU lit up the Cowboys 38-24.
The Cougars will return to War Memorial Stadium next Sept. 14 for their first game in Laramie since 2009. BYU is 17-2 in the past 19 games in the series and hasn’t lost at Wyoming since 2003.
Hoops reunion
On Saturday, the Wyoming men’s basketball team will return to the Marriott Center (4 p.m. MST, ESPN+) for the first time since March 5, 2011, when Jimmer Fredette scored 38 points in his last game at BYU and led the No. 3 Cougars to a 102-78 victory.
There is no Jimmer to deal with this time around, but that doesn’t mean it will be any easier for Wyoming (7-5). BYU (11-1) is No. 1 in college basketball in 3-point shooting and assists. The Cougars’ NET ranking is No. 3, while Wyoming sits at No. 198.
It hasn’t always been that way. During Wyoming’s heyday, the Cowboys rolled out players like Fennis Dembo and Eric Leckner and walked into the Marriott Center as the favorite. Even with BYU’s home dominance against Wyoming (65-16), it added the kind of spice to a rivalry that makes the 175th game in the series worth playing and the series worth continuing.
In November, the BYU women’s basketball team returned to Laramie for the first time since the split and the Cowgirls beat them 86-74.
Together again
It’s good to have BYU and Wyoming back together. They have come a long way since those first battles more than 100 years ago. They have also overcome a lot of things that can get in the way of a sporting event.
Not everybody is happy to see them back together. There will always be those stuck in the past, but as loud as the Marriott Center will be on Saturday, War Memorial Stadium will be equally as frenzied on Sept. 14, 2024 — as it should be when two old rivals reunite.
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.