Ben Anderson: Don't wait for BYU's schedules to get easier


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SALT LAKE CITY — On Monday, news broke from SEC media days that the BYU Cougars would face the Missouri Tigers in October 2020, nearly finalizing BYU’s 2020 football schedule. Here’s how that schedule shapes up so far:

Source: FBSSchedules.com.
Source: FBSSchedules.com.

The Cougars play six Power Five schools, including Utah, Michigan State, Arizona State, Minnesota, Missouri and Stanford. Of those six, only two are in Provo, against two teams that regularly finish within the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll. While the futures of Minnesota and Arizona State are murky, both games are away from home. And BYU bookends its seasons with games at rival Utah and at Stanford, one of the three best Pac-12 teams most seasons.

Those games alone are enough to make BYU’s schedule one of the more daunting in the nation, especially for a team that doesn’t have the financial or recruiting advantages of other Power Five teams. But BYU doubles down on the difficulty of their schedule with a slew of high-risk Group of Five opponents.

The Cougars also play Utah State, Houston, Northern Illinois, Boise State and San Diego State. Of those teams, USU has beat the Cougars twice in the past five seasons, Houston has two Top 25 finishes in the last three years, Northern Illinois has made a bowl game four of the last five years, SDSU has won 10 games or more each of the last three seasons, and Boise State is perennially one of the top three Group of Five teams.

While past success isn’t always an indicator of future prosperity, it does show the general health of these programs.

BYU will have to schedule at least one more team to round out a 12-game schedule, and will likely find a lesser opponent. But outside of that game, there are no gimmies on BYU’s schedule.

In 2019, the Cougars have a similarly difficult schedule.

Source: FBSSchedules.com.
Source: FBSSchedules.com.

BYU will have the toughest schedule to start that season of anyone in college football: rival Utah, at Tennessee, and home against USC and Washington. It may be the toughest four-game stretch that any team will face in college football at any point next season. Tennessee certainly isn’t the program it once was, and Washington will have a new full-time starter at QB, but both should still be a preseason Top 25 team. USC and Utah will also be poised for big seasons.

While the last eight games of 2019 are significantly easier than the schedule in 2020, should the Cougars go winless in their opening four games, BYU will have to find a series of wins on the road against Toledo, Utah State, USF and SDSU to ensure they have a shot at making a bowl game.

Similarly, BYU’s schedule this year is loaded with potential pitfalls.

Source: FBSSchedules.com.
Source: FBSSchedules.com.

Utah and Washington, again, mark extremely difficult road games, as does Wisconsin — all of which have potential to be Top 25 teams when BYU faces them. While neither Arizona or California are college football playoff threats, the Cougars will face them while adjusting to a new offensive coordinator, running a new offensive system.

Catching McNeese State, Utah State, Hawaii, Northern Illinois and New Mexico State at home gives BYU a great opportunity to find five wins in Provo. However, they’ll have to beat one of the Power Five teams on their schedule, or win at Boise State or at UMass (who BYU lost to in Provo in 2017), to become bowl eligible.

BYU’s 2018 schedule is one of its most difficult since leaving the Mountain West, but the climb only gets steeper from here. Having missed a bowl game last season, the Cougars will have to navigate a dangerous schedule this season to get back to bowl game, before facing increasingly brutal schedules in 2019 and 2020.


![Ben Anderson](http://img.ksl.com/slc/2556/255612/25561254\.jpg?filter=ksl/65x65)
About the Author: Ben Anderson ------------------------------

Ben Anderson is a sports contributor for KSL.com. Follow him on Twitter @BensHoops. Listen to him 2-6 p.m., Monday through Friday with Kyle Gunther on ESPN 700.

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