BYU Football is officially less than 100 days away, but with all of the recent basketball news and drama, it feels like football is still 200 days away. Or maybe it is the reality of coming off of a 5-7 season and not feeling overly optimistic about returning to the 8-10 game-winning range in 2024.
Regardless, here we are just under 100 days, which means that despite the basketball news or lack of optimism, it is time to start thinking about and looking at football. Things can still change, especially in the transfer portal era, where players can still sign through the summer, but here are BYU’s opponents ranked from worst to best.
Must Win Games For BYU Football
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These are games that BYU should win and, quite honestly, needs to win if they hope to get back to a bowl game in 2024. If BYU drops any of these games, it must pull off a major upset or two just to finish (.500).
12. Southern Illinois – FCS school, no more comment needed.
11. Houston—There is a very real scenario where BYU can go .500 and only win one home Big 12 game. It would be against Houston, which is very likely to improve in the next few years but likely won’t be very good in 2023 as it adjusts to a new coach and quarterback and still goes through the growing pains of joining a P4 league.
10. At Arizona State – The Sun Devils struggled last season, and while they may be better in 2024, they likely won’t be up to BYU’s talent. Also when t
Should Win Games
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Assuming BYU goes 3-0 in the games mentioned above, the Cougars will likely have to 2-1 in these games to be bowl eligible.
9. At Baylor – Baylor is really struggling and didn’t pull in a great transfer or recruiting class. Baylor very well may only win three or four games all season, the question is,
8. At Wyoming – Playing at Wyoming is never easy, and they HATE BYU. This is the kind of game where BYU should win but will likely find themselves in a one-score game late in the 4th quarter. Wyoming is losing a lot of production from last year, but they can’t be overlooked, considering they beat Texas Tech and almost beat Texas last year.
7. Kansas – This is more speculative on my part, but Jalon Daniels reminds me of Taysom Hill in college. He has played in four seasons and never made it through an entire season. I don’t have much confidence that Daniels will be healthy by Week 10 of the season, and I don’t think Kansas has a strong backup. If Daniels were injured, I would put Kansas at No. 10 on this list, with him healthy, No. 6. Because of that, average put them at No. 8.
Winnable Games, But Not Likely
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These games are games that BYU can certainly win if they play their best game or if they end up being better than where they are currently projected. If BYU can win one or two of these games, they will be a really good spot and likely be headed towards a bowl game. If they can win more than two, the Cougars will be having a great season.
6. At SMU, SMU is going to want revenge from 2022 and 1980, and they happen to be a really good team. However, we saw what happens when a G5 team moves up to a P4 level. Even though SMU was good, they honestly may be a 6-6 ACC team with tougher competition. For that reason, they are in the middle of the pack.
5. Kansas State – Kansas State looked like they would be left dead after last season when almost their entire QB room entered the transfer portal. That was before Avery Johnson took over and played very well in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Now Kansas State looks like a very good team that could do damage in the league. This is a home game, and that makes me like BYU’s chances more.
4. Oklahoma State—Last year, Oklahoma State got caught looking ahead to the Big 12 Championship game and didn’t show up for the first half of their game in Stillwater. This year that isn’t going to happen. The one reason I have them in the winnable category is that this game is going to take place on a Friday night. LES comes to life during night games, and I will never count BYU out in front of a sold-out stadium at 8:30 PM.
Can BYU Get a Miracle?
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I would be shocked to see BYU win these three games. None of these teams are unbeatable; I just don’t see them as great matchups for the Cougars this upcoming year.
3. At Utah – On paper, Utah is a much more difficult opponent, but this is the Holy War and things get weird. Even though BYU has lost nine of the last ten, almost every game has come down to the last possession of the game. Again, if any other team of Utah’s talent was the opponent, I’d say they’d definitely be the top team.
2. Arizona—Yes, it is a home game, but Arizona is just a better team, and they will have a real shot at winning the conference championship in year one of the Big 12. If BYU played Arizona earlier in the season, I’d like their chances more, but by the sixth game, the Wildcats will likely have their scheme and style down pretty well.
1. At UCF – This is a strong take, and I’m likely the only one to rank UCF as the toughest opponent but hear me out. BYU traveling to the East Coast before a BYE week ahead of the Utah game is a tough ask. I also believe UCF will be the league’s surprise this year.
The Knights are bringing in a ton of talent from the transfer portal, including KJ Jefferson, who has beaten BYU before (and almost single-handedly beat them last year). I don’t think UCF is the best team BYU will face, but BYU struggles with speedy teams (TCU last year). That, along with when and where the game takes place, makes me feel that the game at UCF will be the toughest all year.
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What do you think? Where would you rank each team? Let us know in the comments!