2024 BYU beating Utah at RES.
The AJ Dybansta Experience.
BYU is about to enter its fourth football season as a member of the Big 12 Conference. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed. So much has happened for BYU athletics in that three-year window. Let’s dive into the top five moments for BYU athletics so far in the Big 12 era.
5. Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Title Sweep in 2024
You have to give the Olympic sports some love. BYU has built something of a dynasty in the cross country circle. In 2024, BYU became the first school in more than two decades to capture both the men’s and women’s team titles for cross country. In the entire school’s history, they have won 13 NCAA team national championships.
Two of them came in the same year, in the same sport. That’s quite remarkable. A big shoutout needs to go to the head coaches of the men’s and women’s cross country squads in Provo, Ed Eyestone and Diljeet Taylor. Taylor in fact, has guided the women to two national titles in her tenure, with the other one coming in 2020.
The cross country teams at BYU are basically the Georgia football or Duke basketball of cross country at this point.
4. 2025 Big 12 Football Championship Game Appearance
Of course, had BYU won this game, this would be a lot higher. The 2025 BYU Cougars put on quite a stellar campaign. They went 11-1 in the regular season, which earned them a place in the Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington. Just making it there at all is quite an accomplishment in a crowded conference of 16 teams, most of which with quality football programs. The only loss in the regular season was to No. 9 Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Cougars defeated a ranked Utah team at home and survived several games featuring either overtime or an early deficit.
They showed resolve in reaching the Big 12 title game, even though they got routed by the Red Raiders again. The Cougars finished the season strong, with yet another dramatic comeback to cap off 2025, this time to beat Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
All this, with a true freshman quarterback in Bear Bachmeier who wasn’t even on the team roster the previous spring.
3. Beating Wisconsin in NCAA Tournament to Reach Sweet 16
Kevin Young validated himself as BYU’s head basketball coach immediately in his first year. First, he got highly-touted international recruit Egor Demin to commit to BYU for the 2024-2025 season. That ended up helping the Cougars reach the NCAA Tournament as a six seed. They defeated a scrappy VCU team in the first round. That set up a date with No. 3 seeded Wisconsin. That game was an instant classic.
BYU controlled most of the game with an up-tempo, NBA-style offense. Wisconsin mounted a furious late comeback that made Cougar fans nervous. Late drama included an ejection of BYU guard Dawson Baker, who famously watched the rest of the game from the locker room. The Badgers got the ball with a chance to tie or win it at the end, but BYU’s defense held strong to earn the win and a trip to the Sweet 16. It was the Cougars’ first trip to the Sweet 16 in 15 years, dating back to the Jimmer Fredette era.
2. BYU Beats Utah in Salt Lake in First Matchup as Big 12 Rivals
The stage was set. Due to the PAC-12 fallout, Utah, along with Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State, joined the Big 12. That meant BYU and Utah were set to do battle as conference foes for the first time since 2010. The buildup and hype for the November matchup was palpable. Little did we know that it would have BYU entering Rice-Eccles Stadium ranked No. 9 at 8-0. They had Big 12 Championship and even College Football Playoff hopes on the line when they went to enemy territory in Salt Lake.
For most of the game, it looked like BYU’s perfect season was going to come to a disastrous end. The Utes led 21-10 at halftime. A Will Ferrin field goal in the third quarter cut it to a 21-13 deficit. Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Jake Retzlaff led a touchdown drive. The two-point attempt failed, leaving the Cougars still trailing by two. Trailing 21-19, the Cougars got the ball back late with one last gasp. That turned into a moment of everyone holding their breath, as Retzlaff was sacked in the endzone on fourth down, seemingly ending the game.
However, the officials called holding on Utah, giving BYU a fresh set of downs. Still, the Cougars needed roughly 50 yards with no timeouts left in just over a minute to get into field goal range. Retzlaff and the offense got the ball to the Utah 26. With the clock still rolling under 20 seconds left, BYU kicker Will Ferrin drilled a game-winning field goal into a sea of red Ute fans, sealing the win for the Cougars in an unbelievable comeback. This famously led to a postgame tirade by Utah athletic director Mark Harlan. The in-conference version of the Holy War rivalry was truly back and better than ever.
1. The AJ Dybantsa Experience
It’s going to be hard to truly quantify how much AJ Dybantsa coming to Provo meant to BYU. We may not know the full value for a long time. This was not just some highly-touted recruit that chose Kevin Young’s squad at BYU over bigger basketball blue bloods. This was a transcendent figure in the game of basketball choosing to don the BYU logo. People are calling him a future NBA star, maybe even one of the all-time greats. Only time will tell.
For now, what we do know, is that AJ Dybantsa was the best college basketball player during the 2025-2026 season. He led the nation, averaging 25.5 points per game. He was a Consensus first-team All-American and Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Last week, he made even more BYU history, becoming the first ever Cougar to be drafted No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft, getting selected by the Washington Wizards.
Dybantsa brought more instant notoriety and credibility to BYU athletics as a whole. In an era where college athletes can basically handpick where they want to go and how much money they make, the best pound-for-pound basketball player in America chose BYU. He very well could go down as the single greatest athlete to put on a BYU uniform. Indeed, his one year with the Cougars ended in disappointment, being ousted by Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. However, the impact on recruiting and overall credibility of BYU basketball he made will have a ripple effect for several years to come.
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