Too Optimistic Tuesday: AP Poll snub will ignite a motivated BYU Cougars squad
Kalani Sitake’s team has always embraced the underdog role. This season, AP voters have dealt them a full hand of disrespect — and it might be exactly what BYU needs to take things to the next level.
Welcome back to Too Optimistic Tuesday! This weekly feature reminds BYU fans to focus on the positives and keep their spirits high. Every season has its highs and lows, and this column aims to boost the good and help fans move past the bad. So throw on your BYU blue shades and bask in your Cougar pride for a few minutes.
“D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T — find out what it means to me…”
With apologies to Aretha Franklin, the anthem in BYU’s locker room might as well be “Disrespect.” Each week, AP voters toss a few token votes to Sitake’s team, but stop short of putting them in the official Top 25 — a slight that doesn’t go unnoticed in Provo.
Even after an 11-2 finish last season, a blowout of Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, a No. 13 final ranking, and a 2-0 start this year where they’ve outscored opponents 96-3 (including a Power Four win over Stanford), the Cougars are still sitting just outside the Top 25, essentially No. 26.
That kind of national snub can discourage fans, but Too Optimistic Tuesday isn’t here to mope. It exists to help Cougar Nation find hope, even in the face of dismissive rankings and national apathy.
Under Sitake, this team feeds off of being overlooked. As the head coach likes to put it: “They don’t know… but they’re about to find out!”
Think back to the UCF blowout last season
For those BYU fans dwelling on the AP voters’ latest snub, just rewind to last year’s clash with UCF for a reminder of how this team responds.
In case you forgot: BYU entered the game 7-0 and ranked No. 11 nationally. UCF, meanwhile, was 3-4 and had dropped four straight. That didn’t matter. The Cougars weren’t taking anything for granted.
Fueled by the doubters, BYU dominated the game. They led 34-10 by the end of the third quarter and cruised to a 37-24 victory. That win bumped them two spots in the rankings — up to No. 9 overall.
There’s no reason this year can’t follow a similar pattern. As long as BYU keeps winning games, the recognition — and the respect — will eventually catch up.
At the end of the day, it’s not about the rankings in September. What will truly matter is how the Cougars perform in a pivotal four-game stretch starting October 18th: home vs. No. 18 Utah, then away at No. 12 Iowa State and No. 17 Texas Tech, and finally back home against a tough TCU squad.
That stretch is BYU’s ticket to national recognition and long-term legitimacy. The opportunity is right there. All they have to do is seize it.
And if anything, being left out of the rankings now just adds more fuel to the disrespect-driven fire already raging in Provo.
For the time being, that D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T might actually be the best motivation they could ask for.
