Mascots and cheerleaders from numerous faculties dance collectively on the Huge 12 soccer media days in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, July 13, 2023. Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman through Related Press
Former BYU golfer Peter Kuest drives off the sixteenth tee throughout the third spherical of the Rocket Mortgage Basic golf match at Detroit Nation Membership, Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Detroit. Carlos Osorio, Related Press
For the primary time in additional than a decade, BYU was a part of convention media days in soccer. This one is happened in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday and Thursday. There, BYU coach Kalani Sitake and choose gamers sat down with reporters and answered questions in regards to the squad and upcoming season. There have been greater than 300 reporters on the scene.
Cougar Insider predictions
Query of the week: What do you make of the Huge 12 preseason media ballot that was launched earlier this month that ranks BYU low, and the way will the Cougars deal with these expectations?
Jay Drew: I can’t say I'm stunned that BYU landed at No. 11 within the media’s preseason ballot for Huge 12 soccer this 12 months, principally as a result of that’s about the place I slotted the Cougars.
Can they end worse than eleventh? Sure. Can they end higher — significantly better — than eleventh? Completely.
Preseason polls are crapshoots, and much more so now within the day and age of the switch portal. Groups can get higher, or worse, in a rush.
BYU’s gamers and coaches ought to ignore, however not overlook, the preseason ballot. I’m hoping they don’t roll out the ol’ “we don’t get any respect” line this week on the Huge 12 media confab in Arlington, Texas. It’s greatest to simply roll with the punches, then shock some of us with what they do on the sector.
Earlier than the ballot got here out, however after ESPN FPI gave them a zero % likelihood of profitable the Huge 12, I requested a pair Cougars and coach Sitake what they considered the low expectations. They took the excessive street, saying they aren’t apprehensive about it.
Let’s hope that mantra continues this week in Huge D.
Dick Harmon: I believe being ranked low, close to the underside, is strictly what this BYU group wants because it enters its first season within the Huge 12. Enter low, combat for respect, push onerous to earn approval and act like blue-collar staff.
In case you look how BYU light in a four-game shedding streak final 12 months, it's simple to see how voters would view the Cougars. Final 12 months, BYU couldn’t deal with it when Jaren Corridor bought injured towards Utah State and was recovering throughout that shedding streak. BYU struggled with depth when some key gamers suffered accidents.
Will that occur once more? Possibly.
However, I imagine of us are underestimating how efficient senior QB Kedon Slovis will be, how a lot of an influence BYU’s working recreation may need gained from a 12 months in the past and the efficacy of a Jay Hill attacking protection. BYU ranks on the prime within the Huge 12 in switch recruits and is within the prime 20 nationally in that class. It is a totally different group than a 12 months in the past and all of it is dependent upon how rapidly chemistry and motivation can ship.
Ask any BYU participant from the previous 30 years or longer and they'll let you know how robust it have to be for the Cougars to compete as an impartial with no convention title on the road, no all-conference honors and recognition and the way that typically makes practices more durable to focus by on a weekly foundation. I count on BYU to get a little bit extra gasoline week to week by competing for league standings.
Cougar tales
Two BYU stars took heart stage this previous week when Kenneth Rooks made headlines for a dramatic win within the steeplechase on the USA Championships and former Cougars golfer Peter Kuest ratcheted up two top-20 finishes as a Monday qualifier to earn short-term standing on the PGA Tour. Each had been inspiring tales and well worth the comply with.
Kenneth Rooks fell, then did the exceptional (Doug Robinson)
Huge day for BYU athletes at USA championships (Doug Robinson)
Peter Kuest earns Temp Tour membership (PGA Tour)
From the archives
From the Twitterverse
- Is Bronco greatest match for Northwestern? (@CriddleBenjamin)
- Watch Rooks’ incredible end (@JeremiahJensen)
- Jimmer continues to amaze (@cbreeze32)
Further factors
- BYU about to search out out what others in Huge 12 suppose (Deseret Information)
- BYU leads Huge 12 in switch rankings (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Kalani Q&A on Slovis, Huge 12 (The Athletic)
Fanalyst
Feedback from Deseret Information readers
This occasion ought to be performed and replayed as a nationwide occasion. What an excellent instance of by no means giving up and protecting going irrespective of the chances.
Thanks Kenneth Rooks on your instance of true American grit on this troubled time of our nation, this time in historical past!
— BYUAlum
I used to be within the stands at Hayward Subject cheering him on! Plenty of BYU followers. My spouse mentioned wouldn’t it's superb if he received after falling! And he did!
I've to confess that my spouse and I had been among the individuals who needed to get an image with him on his victory lap. Add in Courtney Wayment’s second place within the girls’s steeplechase and Zach McWhorter’s second place within the pole vault, BYU had three podium finishes within the final 4 occasions on Saturday. It's an incredible monitor program at BYU.
— Oregon Coug
Up subsequent
July 12-13 | Soccer | Huge 12 media days | @Arlington, Texas
Aug. 5 | 7 p.m. | Ladies’s soccer | Blue vs. White | @Provo
Aug. 10 | 5 p.m. | Ladies’s soccer | Rutgers | @New Brunswick, New Jersey
Former BYU golfer Peter Kuest drives off the sixteenth tee throughout the third spherical of the Rocket Mortgage Basic golf match at Detroit Nation Membership, Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Detroit.
Carlos Osorio, Related Press