I've done some research on most of the teams we are playing this fall. First of all, how any team can go undefeated for an entire season is incredible. There are so many variables at play and so many opportunities to trip up. Which again reiterates how good the past two seasons have been for us. This year has some big challenges. Do we have a shot at going undefeated? Yes, but it's going to be a long shot. Even with the deepest and most talented team we've had in a long time, we will need the figurative ball to bounce our way several times. And regardless of my predictions here, I'll be cheering hard for BYU and hopeful that we win every game. One big caveat, many of my predictions hinge on the assumption that we stay relatively healthy as a team and don't see massive personnel losses like we did last year on defense where we were relying on 4th string walk ons.

Tier 1
Arkansas- it's to our advantage that we get them at home. The ROC lately has made it very difficult for opposing teams playing on that south end of the field in big games. The Razorbacks are getting a lot better each year under head coach Pittman though. He really changed the culture of that team and they've been making some noise in the SEC and had an impressive 9 win season last year. Sadly, I think we lose this game. With the talent they have and the coaching now in place, I think they will overpower us.

Baylor- I think I saw that Vegas currently has us as a 1.5 point favorite at home, but my heart can't buy that. Baylor is a really good team, as we saw from their top 5 finish last year. They destroyed our defense last year with the run and get almost everyone back from that oline and running back group. The players they lost on offense (receivers and qb) aren't the reason we lost to them. Their run game was. Coach Aranda is one of my favorite coaches in the country. He's the real deal, and for the sake of Baylor and the Big12, I'm glad he has decided to stick around. I think the Baylor oline abuses our dline again and we lose, though I think this game is closer than we saw last year in Waco.

Notre Dame- this will be an interesting game as it will pit strength against strength. Notre Dame has a really good defense. But their offense is just ok. We will have a really good offense this year. And even though our defense should be much better than the back half of last year, I still think they'll be just OK this year. I think we have a chance to win this game, but I think Notre Dame pulls off the win. (I really, really hope we beat them though and embarrass them on national TV as retribution for how they've contractually done us dirty)

Oregon- I'm going with a hot take here. I think we beat Oregon in Eugene despite being the underdog. The national pundits propped up Oregon after they caught Ohio State off guard early in the season. After that game, Oregon didn't show me anything that they deserved their ridiculously high ranking. They lost to a bad 3 win Stanford team. And they got stomped twice by Utah- that same Utah team we manhandled in the trenches when we were at full strength. Oregon lost some big time leaders on that team and has an entirely new coaching staff. I think we beat them.

Tier 2
Boise State- Boise State is always a tough opponent for us. There's a reason they have a winning record against us. They are a solid program, and are very hard to beat on that ugly blue turf. But I think we beat them this year and avenge our loss from last fall. Not to take away from what a great team they are, but we lost that game from stupid turnovers from our offense. Yes, BSU helped create those turnovers, but some of those fumbles were so flukey and uncharacteristic for us. Their offense is not that scary. Bachmeier isn't as big of a threat as many of the former Boise State greats. Our defense handled them pretty well, which surprised me. I'm predicting that our offense goes big against them in Boise behind our excellent o-line.

Utah State- I didn't fully appreciate how great our victory in Logan was last fall until the season was over. Utah State turned out to be a pretty good team last year. I really like what coach Blake Anderson is doing up there. This game is far from a gimme game, but I think we beat them in Provo.

Liberty- Liberty has some talented players. They won 8 games last year and some of their losses were to really good teams. We could trip up with this game back in Virginia. But I think we come away with a close victory in this game.

Stanford- they are not a good team right now. They struggled to win 2 games in a bad Pac12 conference last season. Coach Shaw has been on a steady decline the last several seasons since his peak in 2015. I'm not that afraid of the Cardinal this fall. I think we beat them by at least a couple of touchdowns.

Tier 3
East Carolina- they aren't an intimidating team. They won 7 games last year, but did so against some pretty weak competition. Yes, I know we lost to them at home in the past, but these two teams are completely different than when that happened. We should have a comfortable victory against them at home.

Wyoming- they aren't a great team. They went 7-5 last year and beat some really bad teams. Though they did seem to figure things out at the end of the season and pulled off a win against Utah State. I'm not too worried about Wyoming at home.

USF- we are at full strength and should beat USF by 2-3 touchdowns. I've heard the fear and seen the hand wringing of some fans about this game, but BYU will punch USF right in the mouth in this game. Our offense will likely be a top 15 offense this year and will showcase it against USF to open the season. This honestly will be one of our easiest games this year and will be fun to watch our defense at full strength.

Gimme game
Utah Tech- no need to even elaborate on this game. Win.