Had there never been a COVID-19 pandemic, BYU would have played its most important game of the year against Utah in its season opener, faced five opponents from Power Five conferences in the first six weeks and quite possibly gone into October without a national ranking or significant goals to play for.
That’s generally how it’s gone for the Cougars since declaring independence from the Mountain West Conference in 2011, a project born of ambition bordering on delusion.
“There are BYU fans who feel like, ‘Hey let’s play a tough schedule,’” said Jarom Jordan, the co-host of BYU Sports Nation on BYUtv, the school’s in-house television network.