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 be better than Utah

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

A. Cheer for BYU. Duh.

BYU (5-4) over Southern Utah (5-4)

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

Arizona St. over Utah

C. Hold your nose and cheer for the MWC in nonconference play. Also cheer for the better team in conference matchups. Root for Boise to go to Vegas. The stronger the conference the stronger our bowl opponent will be.

Wyoming (7-2) over UNLV (3-6)
SDSU (8-1) over Nevada (3-6)
New Mexico (6-3) over Utah St. (3-6)
Boise St. (8-1) over Hawaii (4-6)
Air Force (6-3) over Colorado St. (5-4)

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

Arizona (2-7) over #12 Colorado (7-2)
UCLA (3-6) over Oregon State (2-7)
#16 West Virginia (7-1) over Texas (5-4)
Toledo (8-2) beat Northern Illinois (3-7) 31-24
Michigan State (2-7) over Rutgers (2-7)
Mississippi State (4-5) over #1 Alabama (9-0)
Cincinnati (4-5) over UCF (5-4)


E. 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-D trump rule E).

Pittsburgh over #2 Clemson
Iowa over #3 Michigan
#4 Washington over #20 USC
Maryland over #5 Ohio St.
Wake Forest over #6 Louisville
Illinois over #7 Wisconsin
Ole Miss over #8 Texas A&M
Georgia over #9 Auburn
Indiana over #10 Penn St.
Baylor over #11 Oklahoma
Texas Tech over #13 Oklahoma St.
Georgia Tech over #14 Virginia Tech
Duke over #17 North Carolina
Boston College over #18 Florida St.
Minnesota over #19 Nebraska
Cal over #23 Washington St.
#24 LSU over #25 Arkansas
South Carolina over #22 Florida (AP)

F. Root for 5+ loss teams to beat teams with less losses to help a 9-4 BYU team finish ranked (Unless it violates rules A-E)

Virginia (2-7) over Miami (5-4)
Purdue (3-6) over Northwestern (4-5)
Oregon (3-6) over Stanford (6-3)
Missouri (2-7) over Vanderbilt (4-5)
East Carolina (3-6) over SMU (4-5)
Tulane (3-6) over Houston (7-2)
Rice (1-8) over Charlotte (4-5)
North Texas (4-5) over Western Kentucky (7-3)
Florida Atlantic (2-7) over UTEP (3-6)
Marshall (2-7) over MTSU (6-3)
Buffalo (2-7) over Miami (OH) (3-6)
Louisiana Lafayette (3-5) over Georgia Southern (4-5)
Georgia St. (2-7) over Louisiana Monroe (3-6)
New Mexico St. (2-6) over Arkansas St. (4-4)
Texas St. (2-6) over Idaho (5-4)
Notre Dame (3-6) over Army (5-4)

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.

Kansas over Iowa St.
Kentucky over Tennessee
Louisiana Tech over UTSA
Memphis over South Florida
Old Dominion over Southern Miss
Tulsa over Navy

H. It really doesn't matter:

NC St. vs Syracuse
App St. vs. Troy