BYU athletics enters Big 12 with eyes wide open

The party celebrating BYU’s entry into the Big 12 is over.
The feel-good stories coming from the league’s football media days have been told.
Now comes the hard part: Winning.
Since September of 2021, Cougar athletic programs have been planning for their first year in a Power 5 Conference. For some teams, the transition will be pretty smooth.
For others, it’s likely to be a struggle.
BYU’s neighbors to the north (Utah) made their move to the Pac-12 in 2011 faced a difficult adjustment period. The Utes football program (under former Cougar Kyle Whittingham) posted a 33-6 overall mark in their final three seasons in the Mountain West Conference, including an undefeated finish (13-0) in 2008.
The Utes actually went 8-5 overall and 4-5 in league play in its first year in the Pac-12. What followed was two straight losing seasons (5-7 in both 2012 and 2013), then a 9-4 mark in 2014 and a 10-3 record in 2015, including a tie for first in the South Division. Utah is 20-8 overall in the past two seasons, including two trips to the Rose Bowl.
Other Ute programs that had performed well in the MWC — men’s and women’s basketball along with baseball, for example — didn’t find success early in the Pac-12. Men’s hoops went 6-25 in Season 1 of the Pac-12 and has only made the NCAA Tournament twice (2014-15 and 2015-16). Women’s basketball is just 198-174 since joining the Pac-12, although the Utes did make the NCAA Sweet 16 last season. The Utah baseball team has made just one NCAA Regional since 2012.
Despite that empirical evidence, BYU fans shouldn’t despair. The Cougars independence schedule in football has included multiple Power 5 opponents each season, including a 5-1 mark against those foes in 2021. And there are some strong programs in Olympic sports that will carry the banner into the new league.
Here’s a look at three BYU athletic programs who are ready to take on the Big 12, along with three that will likely try Cougar fans’ patience in the early Big 12 seasons.
Three teams ready for action
1. Cross Country
Ed Eyestone and Diljeet Taylor are BYU’s secret weapons when it comes to coaches on campus. They may not get as much press as the football or basketball coaches but Eyestone and Taylor simply produce champions, building on the work of Patrick Shane and others before them. The men’s program boasts four individual national champions, including Conner Mantz (2020 and 2021), Josh Rohatinsky (2006) and Eyestone himself in 1984. The Cougars won an NCAA team title in 2019. On the women’s side, BYU won team championships in 2020 and 2021 (national titles No. 4 and No. 5), with Whittni Orton claiming the individual championship. The Cougars are always in the hunt for the national team title and that won’t change in the Big 12.
2. Women’s Soccer
Jennifer Rockwood is the only coach women’s soccer has ever known at the Division I level and her system works: BYU has made the NCAA Tournament 16 of the past 17 seasons. The Cougars made a national title appearance in 2021, losing to Florida State in a shootout. South Field is one of the best venues on campus and draws huge crowds for big matches. BYU fans are already priming for an August 31 meeting against defending national champion UCLA. The Cougars have battled Santa Clara (2020 national champions) and Pepperdine each season the WCC, which is a very good soccer league. Rockwood’s style and challenging preseason schedules always has BYU ready for the challenge and this year, with 10 returning starters, should be a good one in the Big 12.
3. Women’s Volleyball
Team Olmstead has kept the Cougars among the nation’s elite for nearly a decade. Shawn Olmstead led the Cougars to the NCAA title match in 2014, then took over the men’s program. His sister, Heather, has kept the ball rolling. BYU has been to the Sweet 16 six times since 2015 and earned a NCAA semifinal berth in 2018. Heather Olmstead annually brings in Top 10 recruiting classes (watch out for 6-3 outside hitter Claire Little and 6-5 middle blocker Brielle Kemavor this season). The Cougars have been insanely good in the Smith Fieldhouse, rolling up a 113-7 mark (94%) since 2015. It’s a step up to the Big 12 from the WCC, for sure: Texas won the national title in 2022. But the Cougars should be ready to take on the Longhorns and the rest of the league.
Three teams staring at a tough road
1. Men’s Basketball
The final year in the West Coast Conference was painful for Cougar fans. Mark Pope and his staff decided to play young and new players a lot of minutes in 2022-23 and the growth was slow, with BYU producing a 19-15 overall mark and dismal 7-9 league record. After a strong 2019-20 season (which ended without an NCAA Tournament due to COVID) and an NCAA invite in 2020-21, the Cougars were just 16-15 in WCC play the past two seasons. There is hope with some good transfer portal work this summer but BYU is entering the best college basketball conference in the country. The Big 12 is a monster and early returns will probably be rough. This season will put Pope and his players through the wringer, for sure.
2. Football
Yes, the Cougars have been playing a pretty formidable schedule during the independence era and have recorded some nice success against Power 5 opponents. But BYU has never played ten straight P5 games in a season, which is what it will do in 2023. The Cougars have worked on recruiting depth with a Top 20 transfer portal class and must make progress in keeping front line players healthy to get wins in the Big 12. With more than 50 additions to the roster and a new defensive staff, BYU fans are hopeful to make a big splash in 2023. Defending the home field will be critical as well. Cougar fans have notoriously high expectations (like most college football fan bases). Will getting to at least six wins and a bowl invite be enough in Year 1? Does the fact that Kalani Sitake was an assistant at Utah when the Utes moved into the Pac-12 make you feel better as well? It should.
3. Baseball
BYU made the NCAA Tournament just one time during its 12-year stint in the WCC (2017) and was just 44-38 (54%) in league play the past three seasons. The most alarming trend this season was on the pitching mound, where the Cougars earned run average ballooned to 6.96 in a low-rated league. That won’t win a lot of games in the Big 12, one of the top baseball conferences in the country. To be fair, No. 1 starter Jack Sterner only pitched in five games before a season-ending injury and top reliever Reid McLaughlin had shoulder surgery that kept him off the field for the entirety of 2023. Still, third-year coach Trent Pratt has a ton of work to do to get BYU to a place where they can compete in the Big 12.