The goals for BYU are:

1. To achieve the highest ranking possible
2. To be bowl eligible and play the best bowl team possible
3. To win as many games as possible
4. To get into the Big 12
5. To be better than Utah

If you want to see these goals accomplished here is your rooting guide:

A. Cheer for BYU. Duh.

BYU (3-3) over Mississippi St. (2-3)

B. Cheer for the team playing Utah. Because there is no reason to cheer for Utah

Oregon St. (2-3) over Utah (5-1)

C. Cheer for BYU’s opponents. This helps SOS which helps our overall ranking.

Arizona (2-4) over USC (3-3)
UCLA (3-3) over Washington State (3-2)
#20 West Virginia (4-0) over Texas Tech (3-2)
Toledo (4-1) over Bowling Green (1-5)
Michigan State (2-3) over Northwestern (2-3)
#15 Boise State (5-0) over Colorado State (3-3)
Southern Utah (3-2) over North Dakota (4-2)
UMass (1-5) over Louisiana Tech (3-3)


D. Cheer for teams playing teams ranked ahead of BYU. Cheer for unranked teams vs. ranked teams. If both teams are ranked ahead of BYU cheer for the higher ranked (Of course rules A-C trump rule D).

#1 Alabama over #9 Tennessee
#2 Ohio St. over #8 Wisconsin
NC St. over #3 Clemson
Duke over #7 Oklahoma
Indiana over #10 Nebraska
Kansas over #11 Baylor
#12 Ole Miss over #22 Arkansas
Tulsa over #13 Houston
Wake Forest over #14 Florida St.
North Carolina over #16 Miami
Syracuse over #17 Virginia Tech
Mizzou over #18 Florida
Kansas St. over #19 OU
Akron over #24 Western Michigan
Colorado over #24 ASU (Coaches Poll)
Southern Miss over #25 LSU (Coaches Poll)

E. Hold your nose and cheer for the MWC in nonconference play. Also cheer for the better team in conference matchups. The stronger the conference the stronger our bowl opponent will be (Unless it violates rules A-D).

San Diego St. (4-1) over Fresno St. (1-5)
Air Force (4-1) over New Mexico (2-3)
Nevada (3-3) over SJSU (1-5)
Hawaii (3-3) over UNLV (2-4)

F. Cheer for teams playing potential programs that could get into the Big 12 over BYU (Unless it violates rules A-E)

Temple over UCF
UConn over South Florida

G. Cheer for our Opponents’ opponents unless they are playing our opponents. This helps our SOS in virtually every SOS calculation. The more connected a team is to our opponents the more you should cheer for them (unless it violates rules A-F). For example, Oregon St. is the most connected team to our opponents as they play 4 games against them (UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Boise St.). The number by the team indicates how connected they are. If the numbers are equal take the team who has lost or will most likely lose to our opponents.

Arkansas St. (2) over South Alabama
Stanford (2) over Notre Dame
Ball St. over Buffalo
Florida International over Charlotte
Iowa St. over Texas
Louisiana Lafayette over App St.
Maryland over Minnesota
Miami Ohio over Kent St.
Northern Illinois over Central Michigan
Ohio over Eastern Michigan
Purdue over Iowa
Rutgers over Illinois
Troy over Georgia St.
Tulane over Memphis
Vanderbilt over Georgia

H. Cheer for the G5 team over the P5 team. Because it is fun (unless it violates rules A-G)

Georgia Southern over Georgia Tech

I. It really doesn't matter:

Florida Atlantic vs. Marshall
Idaho vs. New Mexico St.
Louisiana Monroe vs. Texas St.
Pitt vs. Virginia
UTSA vs. Rice
Western Kentucky vs Middle Tennessee