If the following were BYU's schedule, would you still feel there was a realistic hope of a near perfect (if not undefeated) season?

Aug. 30 at Oregon
Sept. 6 at Washington
Sept. 13 UCLA
Sept. 27 Stanford
Oct. 4 at Arizona
Oct. 18 Oregon St.
Oct. 25 Notre Dame
Nov. 1 at Southern Cal
Nov. 8 Arizona St.
Nov. 15 UCLA
Nov. 22 at Utah
Dec. 6 at California

I think all but the most blue-goggled fans (that would be include me ), would think there was NO WAY BYU could get through this schedule with only one loss--which is what they would have to do in order to be certain of a BCS bowl bid, even if they were in the PAC 10 (which this schedule implies).

The first thing I notice about this schedule is how awesome it would be to see home games against the likes of Standford, UCLA, Oregon State, Notre Dame, ASU, and UCLA all in the SAME YEAR!! LES would have to expand, and the PAC10 revenues would surely increase due to nationwide viewership. In fact as I ponder on it, I think the PAC 10 is outrageously foolish for not having done this already (purely from a revenue standpoint). But all that is sidelight.

Could THIS year's team, actually make it through that schedule undefeated? Or with even one or two losses?

Personally I say yes. I actually think the 2008 team will be good enough to expect wins against all but three of these teams, those being ASU, USC and actually Utah. Those three would be a battle. But even so, I would expect BYU could to win two out of three of those, since BYU's offense will be so difficult to defend, their special teams will be quite improved, and the defense is, IMO, likely to be a good surprise. It is actually conceivable that BYU could go undefeated even with the schedule listed above.

Now here's the thing. If you disagree with that thought, then you'd have no way to imagine that BYU actually should belong in a BCS bowl. That's where the likes of Mr. Smokin'-Herb-on-the-street type writers are coming from. As much as I can't wait to seem him and others eat their words at the end of the season, I must admit they've got a point. We are not used to seeing BYU go up against tough competition each week and I think subconsciously we expect they might fail if they did so.

If BYU wins out of its current schedule, it will be in a BCS bowl. But will we as fans collectively be breathing a sigh of relief that we didn't have to play a Pac 10 schedule? Or a Big 10, or ACC, or SEC schedule?

We shouldn't. BYU ought to be tough enough to compete against any of them week in and week out, but barely beating a mediocre UCLA last year simply is not enough evidence to suggest that the team would dominate most or the PAC 10 this year.

So I question my judgment at times--I ask myself if I am expecting too much of BYU if I think they will go undefeated this year. And yet, I can't bring myself to see a clear loss. Sure, close calls at Utah and TCU, but do I expect either of those other teams actually have a better chance of beating BYU than BYU has of beating them? No.

So I can't talk myself out of an undefeated season, even though I can plainly see how audacious that is. Why is that? #1. This is evidence of just how much Bronco has done for the program, that a fan can have such optimism without fear of feeling humiliated. #2. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Bronco, Anae and Jaime Hill actually HAVE put together something very special and the team--this year--may actually be among the best in the nation.

I think that's the hard part. We haven't really gotten the chance to see BYU play anyone really good in the last few years, so we have no idea how they would do in a BCS game. Personally, I think if they make it this year they will struggle in that game, but next year I think may be one of the best teams BYU has ever had.

Yikes, you might as well put the Cowboys on that schedule while you're at it.

ProV1 wrote:

Yikes, you might as well put the Cowboys on that schedule while you're at it.

BTW.

Switching out Utah for Oklahoma and Washington for Washington St. this is actually Washington's schedule for this year. No one expects them to go undefeated this year. If you are hoping BYU can barely squeak past UW, should you really expect BYU to be BCS bowl worthy?

I really expect to see the cougs beat UW solidly. Maybe not a blow out, but by 10+ where the game wasn't a nail-biter at the end.

Could we beat the following teams?

1. Oregon. We've beaten them in the last two years. Yes.
2. Washington. If we beat them next month, then add them to the list. I think so.
3. UCLA. We've had a close win and a close loss to them in the last two years. Yes.
4. Stanford. TCU did it. Yes.
5. Arizona. We beat them last year. Yes.
6. Notre Dame. Duke beat Notre Dame. Yes.
7. USC. Hard to say. We'd probably lose more than half the time, but that's one loss.
8. Arizona State. Hard to say. Probably similar to USC, so two losses.
9. Utah. Yes, we should have won all but four times out of the last twenty five years.
10. Cal. We lost to them by a mere touchdown while still regrouping at the end of '05. Yes.

Point is, I think BYU could post a two loss or better season some years with that schedule, and that's good enough for a BCS game. You don't have to win every game every year when you're in a BCS conference to go to a BCS game. You just have to take second place one year.

I don't think BYU would need to have, at worst, a 1-2 loss season with that schedule to get into a BC$ bowl game IF they were in the PAC-10. It seems like a 3-loss UCLA team was leading the PAC-10 up until the last week of last season.

I can't get my hopes up for an undefeated season this year, and I blame it all on 2006. No one can argue how stacked we were at offense and special teams going into the season, and the defense proved how good they were during the season. We even had an easy-enough schedule, all making the planets aligned for a perfect season. Yet somehow, we found a way to lose two close games.

I will not make predictions, and I will be as disappointed as always when my favorite team loses, but I don't see us going undefeated this season. It has happened one time in the last 25 years, and we have had some outstanding teams since then.