Since this is effectively the “end” of the regular season, I figured it would be fun to take an early look at the 2016 campaign. I will be using Week 14 rankings and Win/Loss records from this year, which should be a fair (and yes, basic) enough depiction of where our opponents stand. Seems practical and relevant to me, anyway.

Here we go.

My insights into next season: 

1. Assuming no conference realignments, half of our games are P5 opponents. 3 from the Pac 12, and 1 each from the Big 12, Big 10, and SEC. 

2. I totaled up the W/L of all our opponent’s, and their average 2015 record is 7.5/4.3, or, 8-4 if you round up/down. Some bottom feeders, some heavy hitters, a lot of good-caliber teams lined up. Should be fun.

3. 2016 will start out with about as much hype as this year. Preseason rankings will inflate the hype of some of these teams though, so don't get too psyched out before next September. 

4. I like the balance of Home, Away, Home, Away that is prevalent throughout the season. We only have 2 consecutive road games and both of them should have strong BYU crowds (@ Arizona; @ Utah).  November finishes with three consecutive home games. Seems like a good flow. 

5. We have a clear shot in all of our games next year. Michigan St. is admittedly a long shot, but the rest we can win. (PREACHY SIDE NOTE: I did not say “should”…get off the “should-win” high horse. Makes cheering for the Cougs a lot more fun.)  

6. I wish the Utah State game and the Utah game were switched around, where USU was our 2nd game and Utah was our last game. That is all I’m going to say about that. …and Chris Hill is a coward. Moving on. 

7. Two teams on next year’s schedule are currently ranked: Utah (20/21) and Michigan St (5/5). I didn’t check to see which teams had been ranked at one point or another this season, but again I think Week 14 rankings are more accurate than anything. 

8. Four, possibly five of our games will be against ranked opponents next year, at the time we play them: Arizona, Utah, UCLA, Michigan State, Boise State. Plenty of good opportunities to take advantage of with a win. 

9. I predict another 9-3 season, with losses to the following, and why: (a win against any of these teams is both possible and of course HUGE for BYU) 

    1. @ Utah - Whittingham just seems to have Bronco’s number whenever we play them. If we win, it will be a sweet surprise. Bronco has three wins against Utah by a combined total of 12 points. In contrast, Wittingham has six wins against BYU by a combined total of 86 points. Ugh… 

    2. UCLA - I think we have a good chance here, but this will be our “gassed” game, coming off a likely emotional loss against Utah the week before. 

    3. @ Michigan State - I just pray we’re not shut out in the state of Michigan again. We’ll be bruised up by the time we roll into Lansing, and Michigan State will likely just be getting on a roll by this time. We will have played 5 tough games, and Michigan State only four (their two tougher games, Wisc. and ND, sandwiched between Furman and Indiana, plus a bye week). Chances are this one gets out of hand. 

CB’ers, yes I should be more blue-goggled than this. But I don’t think that next year’s schedule is apocalyptic, catastrophic, or boring. Should be a fun season with plenty of highs and lows.