BYU Cracks the Top 10 in USA Today Preseason Rankings

Various national outlets are high on the Cougars ahead of the 2022 season

On Wednesday, USA Today released its post-spring Top 25. BYU came in at no. 9, up four spots from no. 13 in the USA Today pre-spring Top 25. Erik Smith, a national college football analyst for USA Today, cited BYU's returning experience as his core reason for putting the Cougars in the top 10.

"The Cougars have won 21 games in the past two seasons, return starting quarterback Jaren Hall, who should lead a dynamic offense with California transfer Christopher Brooks filling a need at running back. The defense brings back almost its entire unit and gets back several players lost due to injury. If those pieces come together then it should take a big step forward. Even with the returning production, BYU is not getting a ton of love nationally but this has the makings of team that can deal with a tough schedule (Baylor, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arkansas) and make a run for the playoff or New Year’s Six game if they avoid major injuries." - Erick Smith, USA Today

Four of BYU's 2022 opponents were also ranked in USA Today's preseason top 25: Notre Dame (13), Baylor (12), Oregon (14), and Arkansas (21).

USA Today isn't the only outlet that has BYU in its way-too-early top 25. Fox Sports ranked BYU no. 16 in its preseason rankings. NCAA.com had BYU at no. 22 in its preseason top 25. In a recent article, 247Sports predicted the first AP Top 25 - they had BYU at no. 15.

BYU is coming off a 10-3 2021 season and it ranks second in the country in overall returning production. Most notably, the Cougars return 97% of their defensive production. That ranks first in the country by a wide margin.

The preseason hype will only grow louder as we near the college football season. BYU kicks off its 2022 against USF in 121 days.

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