Monday starts one of those weeks most athletic programs can only dream about, but for BYU it’s a reality. The Cougars football program is ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25 and the men’s basketball program is also No. 8 — its highest preseason AP Poll ranking in history.
BYU football has achieved some notable things over the years, including an undefeated national championship season, a Heisman Trophy winner, a 14-1 season in 1996 and currently, under Kalani Sitake, a 19-2 record in their last 21 games as a member of a power conference.
Cougar basketball has produced two national player of the year recipients, a trip to the Elite Eight and last spring, BYU reached the Sweet 16 in Kevin Young’s first year as head coach. The Cougars have also added the top recruit in the world — AJ Dybantsa.
Not only is BYU turning heads as the only nationally ranked football-basketball top eight combo, but both programs are headlining marquee events on the biggest stages in sports.
BYU basketball opens the season tonight on TNT (7:30 p.m. MST) against Villanova at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Tuesday, the first College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on ESPN (5 p.m. MST) and the Cougars are projected to find a residence among the 12 contenders.
Saturday, BYU (8-0, 5-0) will play at No. 9 Texas Tech (7-1, 5-1) on ABC (10 a.m.MST) in the game of the year in the Big 12. ESPN’s “College Gameday” will be in Lubbock. The winner will occupy the driver’s seat for the Big 12 championship game.
Both Sitake and Young applaud the opportunities, but they scoff at any exclusive magnitude. To them, big games on big stages with big things at stake is the standard they seek as their respective programs move forward.
“It’s what it should be. It’s what I said we want to make this place when we got here. I’m grateful that people have decided to come here to help put us in that situation, but this isn’t a feel-good moment because we have a big game. We want to play with the big boys,” said Young. “We want to be a contender in all things college basketball. Now it’s a matter of going out and producing.”
Despite being undefeated and producers of the nation’s second-longest win streak (10) behind No. 1 Ohio State (12), Sitake’s Cougars will take the field on Saturday as an underdog (10.5 points) for the third-consecutive game. The veteran coach won’t tackle that topic in the media, but it will no doubt be a motivator inside the locker room. BYU’s national respect is lagging and the only way to speed it up is to keep winning.
Nobody knows how the week is going to go — but the way it is starting can’t and shouldn’t be underscored. This is a six-day sequence Cougar Nation has never seen before — including the two improbable kids making most of the headlines.
Watching Dybantsa go on ESPN last December and announce his college choice of BYU over North Carolina, Kansas and Alabama was as stunning as seeing Sitake start a true freshman at quarterback and having him go 8-0 — but here we are.
Considering the nature of sports, should both teams survive this week, it will only make next week even bigger when football hosts TCU and the hoopsters go to Boston to face No. 4 UConn. But first things first — and first up is BYU-Villanova Monday night.
For a pair of programs who just three years ago finished 8-5 as a football independent and in fifth place in the WCC’s basketball league, dreams are coming true and that makes this week unlike any of the others.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for 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.