BYU fans in the Phoenix area had been waiting eight years for Tuesday’s announcement that will bring the Cougars back to the Valley of the Sun for the first time since 2016. BYU will play at Arizona State on Nov. 23 as members of the Big 12 Conference.
It took an improbable five-step plan to make it happen.
First: Texas and Oklahoma announced their surprise departure from the Big 12 to join the SEC, which they will officially do on July 1.
Second: Needing replacements for the Longhorns and Sooners, the Big 12 quickly invited BYU to join the conference, which the Cougars happily did on July 1, 2023.
Third: USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon bolted the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, leading to the collapse of the Pac-12.
Fourth: Needing a home, Arizona State, Arizona, Utah and Colorado found refuge in the Big 12. They will officially join the conference on Aug. 2.
Fifth: The Big 12 configured its first 16-team schedule in a way that facilitates BYU playing at Arizona State the weekend before Thanksgiving on Nov. 23.
Home away from home
If there are two valleys outside of Utah that rival its BYU fandom, it is Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors BYU, has hundreds of thousands of members and a strong alumni footprint in those respective areas.
As history has shown in both locations, when the Cougars come to town, the fans show up in droves.
“It’s one of those signature events,” said Duane Oakes, BYU Southwest Region Chapter director. “Everybody is excited!”
The last time BYU was in the Phoenix area was in 2016 when the Cougars staged a neutral site game against Arizona at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The season opener attracted 50,528 fans, with a majority cheering for BYU.
When freshman Jake Oldroyd kicked the game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired to give Kalani Sitake his first win as the Cougars head coach, the venue looked and sounded a lot like LaVell Edwards Stadium.
BYU was scheduled to play at Arizona State on Sept. 19, 2020, but the Pac-12 cancelled its nonconference games that season as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November, the Cougars will attempt a second stadium takeover in the Phoenix area 19 miles east of Glendale at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. Capacity is 53,599 and with the Sun Devils football program mired in a major rebuild, the Cougars sense an opportunity to pounce on every available seat.
Wheels in motion
Within hours of Tuesday’s Big 12 announcement, Oakes was on the phone with the Arizona State ticket office.
“We are going to try and get as many tickets as we can,” Oakes said. “I don’t know how many they will allow us, but no matter, there will be a lot of BYU fans. I’ll bet at least a third (of the stadium) and maybe more.”
There are 439,000 Latter-day Saints, including more than 14,000 BYU alumni, living in Arizona, most of them within a reasonable driving distance of Tempe.
Months before the team arrives, a selected group of coaches, players and BYUtv will headline a BYU Alumni Association FanFest in the Phoenix-Gilbert area on May 18. The idea is to plant the seeds for a full fan-harvest when the Cougars return in the fall.
“We are really excited about the upcoming FanFest here. These events are more than just a party and more than great sports teams,” said Michael Johanson, director of BYU Alumni Relations. “It’s a chance to gather, mobilize and strengthen Cougar Nation made up of alumni and fans who embrace the mission and purpose of Brigham Young University.”
BYU will also hold a FanFest in Dallas on April 27, months before the Cougars return to the alumni-rich Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to face SMU on Friday, Sept. 6.
BYU history in Tempe
BYU and Arizona State have split the last 10 meetings, with the Cougars winning the last three, including a 27-17 upset in Provo in 2021. The teams haven’t met in Tempe since BYU beat the Sun Devils 13-10 in 1997. They haven’t faced each other as conference foes since 1978 when Arizona State held off the Cougars at home 24-17 as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The Sun Devils will be the second Big 12 team BYU will face at Mountain America Stadium. In 1974, the Cougars played Oklahoma State in their first bowl game. Once the Cowboys knocked quarterback Gary Sheide out of the game on a questionable hit, they turned a 6-0 deficit into a 16-6 victory.
Fifty years after that Fiesta Bowl, and after a wild turn of events, the Cougars will return to Tempe for a conference clash against the Sun Devils, where qualifying for BYU’s 41st bowl could be on the line with the game so late in the season.