There’s considerable (and understandable) trepidation about BYU’s entrance into the Big 12 this fall. Can BYU sports compete in a Power 5 league? If only there were an objective way to compare the Cougars to teams in the Big 12.
Actually, there is. BYU recently completed its final track and field season as an independent. By using times and measurements from that sport, we can get an objective comparison in at least one sport, which, by extension, might give some idea how the Cougars will compete in other sports, as well. It’s far from perfect — there are going to be differences in the strengths of each sport — but, just for fun, let’s do it anyway.
I scored an imaginary conference championship that included BYU and the current members of the Big 12.
The winner of the men’s competition would be Texas Tech, followed by Texas, BYU, Kansas and Oklahoma, etc. (which mirrors the top finishers in the actual Big 12 championship meet, sans BYU).
The winner of the women’s competition would be Texas by a rout, followed by BYU, with Oklahoma a close third, and Texas Tech fourth (the top four of the real conference championship finish was notably different — Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas Tech).
“It’s very encouraging,” says BYU track coach Ed Eyestone, who did a similar comparison before the NCAA meet, with similar results.
Oklahoma and Texas will compete in the Big 12 one more year and then leave for the SEC, which will dramatically change the competition. In anticipation of those moves, the Big 12 invited BYU, Houston, Central Florida and Cincinnati to join the league, effective in the fall.
As you’ll see in the following event-by-event breakdown, the longer the distance on the track, the better BYU does against Big 12 teams, which isn’t surprising. BYU is a national distance-running power.
In the comparison, the BYU men’s and women’s teams were shut out of the sprints, but scored bunches of points in the 800, 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 and 3,000-meter steeplechase (between the men’s and women’s cross-country teams, BYU has placed in the top three of the NCAA championships seven times in the last six years, including two team titles).
The Big 12 is a speed conference. In the recent NCAA championships, Big 12 athletes placed first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh in the women’s 100 and first in the men’s 100 (with future member Houston taking third).
Based on the best marks from the just-concluded collegiate track season, here’s a breakdown of what BYU’s event leaders would have scored (the top eight in each event score):
MEN
Event — Big 12 rank (BYU athlete performance)
100-meter dash — None.
200-meter dash — None.
400-meter dash — None.
800-meter run — 8th (Sebastian Fernandez, 1:47.38)
1,500-meter run — 7th (Lucas Bons, 3:40.83)
5,000-meter run — 2nd (Joey Nokes, 13:32.01)
10,000-meter run — 1st (Casey Clinger, 28:01.67)
Steeplechase — 1st (Kenneth Rooks, 8:17.62)
110 hurdles — None.
400 hurdles — 8th (Spencer Carlile, 51.62)
4x100 relay — 6th (Bianchi-Draper-Schaap-Jackson, 39.17)
4x400 relay — 5th (Jackson-Jensen-Hazlett-Taylor, 3:02.92)
High jump — 4th (Jake Grimsman, 2.16)
Long jump — None.
Triple jump — None.
Pole vault — 3rd (Caleb Witsken, 5.60)
Shot put — 7th (Danny Bryant, 18.82)
Discus — 2nd (Dallin Shurts, 62.21)
Hammer — None.
Javelin — 2nd (Cameron Bates, 76.07)
Decathlon — 2nd (Ben Barton, 7815)
WOMEN
Event — Big 12 rank (BYU athlete performance)
100-meter dash — None.
200-meter dash — None.
400-meter dash — None.
800-meter run — 1st (Claire Seymour, 2:00.04)
1500-meter run — 4th (Taylor Rohatinsky, 4:12.76)
5000-meter run — 1st (Jenna Hutchins, 15:35.73)
10,000-meter run — 2nd (Aubrey Frentheway, 32:28.85)
Steeplechase — 2nd (Lexy Halladay, 9:41.85)
100 hurdles — 4th (Adaobi Tabugbo, 13.29)
400 hurdles — None.
4x100 — 5th (Tabubo-Gardner-Shaw-Barber, 43.84)
4x400 — 4th (Hunter-Barber-Pontius-Seymour, 3:32.88)
High jump — 1st (Cierra Tidwell, 1.88)
Pole vault — 2nd (Cailee Faulkner, 4.32)
Long jump — None.
Triple jump — None.
Shot put — None.
Discus — None.
Hammer — None.
Javelin — 1st (Ashton Riner, 55.57)
Heptathlon — None.