Various games and moments the past 55 years have launched BYU's football program to greater heights, beginning in 1972 when the school promoted a relatively unknown assistant coach by the name of LaVell Edwards to head coach.
The 1974 team won BYU's first WAC title and earned its first bowl appearance, while the 1980 team won the famed "Miracle Bowl" when Jim McMahon engineered an extraordinary comeback over SMU to give BYU its first-ever bowl win.
Each victory pushed BYU to another level on the national landscape of college football, but it was the 1984 upset of No. 3 Pittsburgh in the season-opener that year and the eventual 24-17 win over Michigan in the Holiday Bowl nearly four months later that still stands as the most important stretch in program history.
"The Big 12 has such a perception problem nationally that beating a team like Notre Dame could do wonders for the Big 12 and do things that the league really can only accomplish by winning playoff games or winning games against the big boys in the regular season. And there are not many opportunities to do that anymore."
That 13-0 season earned BYU a No. 1 ranking — and the national championship, as it were — from the AP, UPI, Sports Illustrated and CNN/USA Today, and is unquestionably the program's greatest achievement. However, the national championship didn't really push BYU into the upper echelon of college football.
Six years later, more recognition came for what Edwards was building in Provo when Ty Detmer threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 16 BYU upset No. 1 Miami 28-21 at what was then known as Cougar Stadium. The stunning win on national television propelled Detmer toward the 1990 Heisman Trophy , and is easily the most important regular-season win in BYU history, in any sport.
More significant victories followed, such as the 1994 upset of No. 17 Notre Dame in South Bend that gave Edwards his 200th career victory . A Steve Sarkisian-led 41-37 win over Texas A&M in the Pigskin Classic in 1996 pushed BYU into its first New Year's Day bowl game, against Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. The 19-15 win over the No. 14 Wildcats completed a 14-1 season and moved the program a couple more rungs up the national ladder.
Since then, however, moments that would have launched BYU to perennial top 10 status have mostly eluded the Cougars, or they squandered opportunities that did come — such as last year when they took a No. 8 ranking and perfect record into Lubbock and were throttled 29-7 by No. 9 Texas Tech.
Another failure to launch for BYU came a month later, when the Red Raiders blasted the No. 11 Cougars 34-7 in the Big 12 championship game to cause the third-year power conference school to just miss making the College Football Playoff for the second straight year.
That history lesson of triumphs and misses brings us to the 2026 season as the program coming off 11-2 and 12-2 seasons the past two years eyes arguably the most-anticipated season in program history with sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier, senior running back LJ Martin, Cal transfer linebacker Cade Uluave and a plethora of other stars in the fold.
The season begins Saturday against Utah Tech, but doesn't really take off until Sept. 12 when another team expected to contend for a Big 12 title visits, Arizona. Trips to Colorado State and TCU and a Friday night home game (Oct. 9) will follow, but the really big one comes on Oct. 17 in Provo.
If both teams take care of business — the Irish have six winnable games before the mega-game, BYU five — the Cougars-Notre Dame game will represent the most important regular-season game in BYU football history.
Bigger than BYU-Miami. Bigger than BYU-Texas A&M and, yes, bigger than any BYU-Utah game in recent memory. How BYU-Notre Dame in 2026 (and 2027 in South Bend) came to be was documented by the Deseret News in May.
Certainly, good fortune has smiled on the Cougars, who could be double-digit underdogs in the contest at LaVell Edwards Stadium. They can use it in the same way they used the 1990 win over Miami — to stamp themselves as a genuine contender for not only the CFP, but perhaps more.
A selection of national and Big 12 college football experts — ESPN's Trevor Matich, Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports, John Kurtz of the popular "Open for Business" podcast and Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group — contacted by the Deseret News for this article certainly agree: Notre Dame is the most important game on BYU's schedule this year, and it isn't even close.
"The Irish will almost certainly be in the top five — with a Heisman front-runner at quarterback (CJ Carr) — when they come to Provo," said Matich, a two-time all-conference lineman at BYU and member of the Cougars' 1984 national championship team . "Beating them wouldn't just give a huge boost to BYU's national profile, it would mean that they might not need to win the Big 12 to make the playoff.
"Plus, remember that Ty Detmer's Heisman campaign was jump-started by a win over Miami in Provo," Matich continued. "Bear Bachmeier is not considered a Heisman candidate right now, but he would jump into the conversation if he plays well in a win over Notre Dame."
Bachmeier burst onto the scene in a big way last fall, but didn't play well in the two losses to Texas Tech. He struggled in Lubbock against TT's all-NFL defensive line and ferocious pass rush and then suffered a left ankle injury during the first drive — a touchdown drive — against the Red Raiders and remained in the game, but was ineffective as the Cougars were embarrassed in Arlington.
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) winds up a pass during the Big 12 championship game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
A case could be made that the 34-7 loss was the most devastating loss in program history.
Matich and Auerbach said Bachmeier will get a chance to play himself into the Heisman conversation on Sept. 12 against Arizona, and especially in October against the Irish.
"BYU could send everyone little teddy bears or something to start the campaign if he (plays well) against Notre Dame," Auerbach said at Big 12 media days in Frisco in July. "I feel like there's a lot of options with the name Bear. The key for Heisman campaigns is familiarity, and I think people started to get to know him this past year.
"You're expecting a big jump now that he's the guy and had a whole offseason knowing he's the guy," Auerbach continued. "But I think sometimes that stuff is a little bit overrated. It's really just name recognition. … I mean, the Big 12 and BYU should be pushing him as one of the faces of the league and of the team, and the (Notre Dame game) will go a long way towards showing the country whether or not he's a candidate."
The San Jose Mercury News' Wilner and Kurtz, who also produces a weekly Big 12 newsletter, are saying that the Oct. 17 game in Provo is not only the most consequential game on BYU's schedule — it is the most important game on the entire Big 12 schedule, collectively.
"The lineup of nonconference opponents is not exactly filled with blue bloods, especially for the teams expected to compete for the Big 12 title (Texas Tech, Houston, Utah and Arizona)," said Wilner. "How the Cougars fare against Notre Dame will have a direct impact on their CFP hopes and an indirect impact on whether the conference sends more than one team (the champion) to the playoffs.
"BYU doesn't necessarily need to win, but it cannot get demolished — the damage would resonate across the Big 12 throughout the CFP selection process," Wilner concluded.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, left, shakes hands with players as they warm up before a game against Stanford, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stanford, Calif. | Godofredo A. Vásquez
Kurtz said that the Notre Dame game is the most important, "without a doubt," but does acknowledge the "significance" of the BYU-Utah game, particularly within the state of Utah. He also said that the entire league will be pulling for BYU to pull off the upset, with the possible exception of some Utah fans whose disdain for BYU overrides everything else.
"Part of that (importance of the game) is a responsibility toward the rest of the league, fair or unfair," Kurtz said. "The Big 12 has such a perception problem nationally that beating a team like Notre Dame could do wonders for the Big 12 and do things that the league really can only accomplish by winning playoff games or winning games against the big boys in the regular season. And there are not many opportunities to do that anymore.
"You don't get these types of games (very often)," Kurtz continued. "It is very rare that BYU gets to host a team in the upper echelon of college football like Notre Dame. So, for the league, it is a huge opportunity."
Ask any BYU player or coach this week, and they all say the most important game on the schedule is the one in front of them — against a Utah Tech team that was walloped 54-0 on its home field by Montana State last Saturday.
"I mean, it is the only one that's right there, so yeah," Martin said.
When told he couldn't say Utah Tech, Bachmeier acknowledged, "I think probably Notre Dame. I mean, that will probably be a big one. So yeah, probably that one."
Sitake often says all 12 games on the schedule are of equal importance , but he did agree to relay his memory of when athletic director Brian Santiago approached him about putting the Irish on the schedule when a USC-Notre Dame agreement couldn't be reached and after Cal canceled its series with BYU due to ACC scheduling changes.
"Oh yeah, I was all in for it. When we knew that was an opportunity, that (it) was an option, there was no hesitation on my part," Sitake said. "I'm a fan first, and so that's a matchup that you want to see as a fan. I got to play in that game when we went to South Bend when I was a freshman way back in 1994."
Sitake said it "makes sense for faith-based institutions to play each other often," as Notre Dame is sponsored by a Catholic religious order and BYU is supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No fewer than 64 players on BYU's 2026 football roster have served full-time missions for the faith, according to the school's athletic department.
"They've got an amazing team and an amazing coach (Marcus Freeman), and so that's going to be fun," Sitake continued. "I'm trying to focus on Utah Tech and everything right now. … But yeah, we're looking forward to that matchup and even going out there and having the return game there is going to be a lot of fun. If we can have one of those matchups, I'm all for it."
Of course, if BYU or Notre Dame loses before the big matchup in Provo — ND's first trip to BYU since losing 20-17 in 2004 — the game will lose a chunk of its luster. Notre Dame has a slightly more difficult schedule, with home games against Rice, Michigan State and Stanford, a neutral-site game Sunday against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and road games at Purdue and North Carolina.
Like Wilner says, a loss to Notre Dame won't totally extract BYU from CFP consideration, but will mean the Cougars have to win the Big 12 championship game to get in the Big Dance. A Notre Dame loss at BYU won't kill the Irish's hopes, either. Heck, Notre Dame made the CFP in 2024 after losing 16-14 to Northern Illinois.
There are benefits to having the history that Notre Dame has, although the Irish wear a huge target on their backs everywhere they go.
The BYU game "will be a very important game for Notre Dame, too, because they don't have a lot of juice on their schedule, either," Kurtz said.
Along with elevating the program's overall status, a strong showing against Notre Dame for BYU would pay dividends in a myriad of ways. Big 12 membership has bolstered BYU's recruiting — the Cougars signed their highest-ranked class ever last winter — and a win over the Irish could help them keep pace with Texas Tech in the Big 12, in that regard.
Many of those recruits and their families will enjoy the newly constructed PACS Recruit Lounge under the east stands at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Before the game, they will likely tour the newly renovated home team locker room at LES, which includes new lockers, new technology and upgraded player amenities and other improvements, according to a BYU news release.
Also new this season is LaVell's Lounge — a hospitality and hosting space just off the upper concourse platform between the west and north stands, and under the west stands.
As BYU's football continues its upward trajectory, ticket prices have also soared. It's all part of getting a seat at the big boys table, and those who want to watch the Cougars tangle with one of the country's blue bloods will have to pay dearly for it.
According to data from ticket marketplace TickPick released on Aug. 25, the average purchase price for a ticket to the game is $552. That surpasses by 83% what was the most expensive average ticket price in stadium history, the $302 on average that folks shelled out last year to watch BYU beat rival Utah, 24-21.
TickPick says that the matchup will be "the most expensive BYU football game on record and the fifth-most expensive sporting event to take place in the state of Utah."
On Aug. 18, TickPick reported that the BYU-Notre Dame game was "expected to be one of the most expensive college football tickets of the entire 2026-27 season," with the most expensive single ticket available listed at $20,926.
According to SeatGeek on Aug. 18, the cheapest resale ticket on its site was around $500, while the most expensive was listed for just more than $26,000. Prices will fluctuate as the game draws closer, both sites said.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 7-2, including a 28-20 win over BYU in 2022 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Kurtz said a win over ND the third Saturday of October would be priceless for BYU.
"For BYU itself, if you think about what the last two years have been like, it's been BYU knocking on that door of the playoff and trying to get in, but not only not being able to get in, being denied even being on the ESPN graphic," Kurtz said. "Well, if you want respect, you go beat Notre Dame. (Then) you'll start appearing on the graphic."
Knocking off Arizona, Utah and Arizona State will help BYU immensely, Kurtz argues, but Notre Dame is a whole different animal.
"None of that is going to move the needle nationally anywhere close to the way beating Notre Dame would, especially this year when a lot of people think this is the best Notre Dame team in decades, potentially," Kurtz said. "Marcus Freeman certainly has his best team, and they're a real national championship contender."
That's a moniker within reach for BYU — unless the Cougars have another failure to launch.
BYU defensive back Micah Harper (1) defends during game against Notre Dame Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in Las Vegas. | John Locher, Associated Press
