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SALT LAKE CITY — It's the kind of schedule that keeps sports talk radio alive. BYU's 2013 schedule is widely regarded as the most impressive in its long history, but there is little consensus on which game is most interesting.
On Cougar Sports Saturday, we tried to narrow down the list to the one game that intrigues us the most. The problem is that everyone interprets "best" differently.
"I think it's Virginia" said Cleon Wall. The Cougars travel to Charlottesville, Virginia to open the season on August 31. "If they don't get that first win, they could possibly start the season 1-4."
Wall sees a loss to the Cavaliers snowballing into a home loss against Texas and Utah, salvaging a win vs. Middle Tennessee St., then finishing the misery with a road loss to the Aggies in Logan.
Andy Farnsworth, KSL Newsradio's traffic guru, loves the Cougars road game to Madison, Wisconsin.
"I think it's going to be really cool to go to Wisconsin, playing against Gary Andersen," he said. "Wisconsin was really good last year — a Rose Bowl team — and Andersen's a good motivator. That's going to be interesting to see BYU go there."
Andersen and the Aggies beat BYU 31-16 in 2010, then lost a couple of heartbreakers in 2011 and 2012.
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Former Aggie quarterback Riley Nelson entered the game in 2011 and threw a touchdown pass with 11 seconds remaining to win the game.
In 2012, the stingy Cougar defense gave up three points for the 6-3 win.
The Cougars will travel to Camp Randall Stadium to play the Badgers on November 9.
Jeremiah Jensen thinks the most pivotal game goes to the in-state rivalry, but not the one that first comes to mind.
"Look at Utah State," Jensen said. "Utah State is a team that is breaking in a new head coach in Matt Wells. They've got one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country in Chuckie Keeton. That's a game they've got to go to Logan and win."
With big name programs like Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Boise State and Texas on the schedule, it's easy to forget the recent resurgence of the Aggies.
"It's going to be a heated game, it even has the feeling of a rivalry game," Jensen added. "It's going to be an emotional game and I think that game is going to be pivotal because that's right there in the middle of the season — a game that you should win on paper. But it's a tough place to play and would be a huge road win for BYU."
My personal feelings lie in South Bend. It may be the second to last game of the season — Cougars make their trip to Notre Dame on November 23 — but a win at historic Notre Dame stadium could push a good season into a great one — or salvage a mediocre season.
That was one of the great reasons for playing the BYU-Utah game at the end of the season. A rivalry win to end the season was a balm to a team that was suffering from a sub-par season.
