S.I. gives BYU a lot of ink

I finally found some time to thumb through my latest issue of Sports Illustrated. It’s the college football preview and BYU is well-represented within the publication’s pages. The magazine has the Cougars ranked No. 17, one spot below Arizona State and one spot ahead of Oregon State. There’s an article on BYU focusing primarily on Jan Jorgensen and the defense, as well as the Cougars’ BCS aspirations. On the opposite side is a full-page photo of quarterback Max Hall.

S.I. predicts the records of every Division I team. It projects BYU to go 11-1 (it doesn’t say what team the Cougars will lose to, but the magazine has BYU and Utah finishing in a first-place tie in conference play with 7-1 records; Utah is projected to go 10-2 overall).

Both of BYU’s non-conference opponents Washington and UCLA are projected to go 4-8 overall.

Toward the end of the issue in a section looking at the non-BCS teams, BYU appears prominently again. The “Coach on the Rise” is Bronco Mendenhall. “The defensive-minded Utah native has returned the Cougars to national prominence and may soon be courted by BCS-conference athletic directors.”
Under the heading BCS-buster is BYU again. “Winners of 10 straight and 22 of their last 26, the Cougars have embraced Mendenhall’s Quest for Perfection mission statement. Pac-10 foes UCLA and Washington could be the only obstacles to an undefeated regular season and a BCS invitation, though BYU must also win at TCU and rival Utah.”

No, I’m not trying to sell S.I. subscriptions in my free time. Just thought it was interesting.