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PROVO — Whether it's a "rivalry" or not, BYU and Baylor is one of the best games on the Week 2 slate in college football.
The 21st-ranked Cougars and No. 9 Baylor will kick off at 8:15 p.m. MDT Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium, one of just three matchups nationally featuring two teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The others are No. 12 Florida and No. 20 Kentucky, and No. 17 Pittsburgh and No. 24 Tennessee.
It's also not the only game featuring a ranked team and a Texas-based team, and even while the eyes of ESPN's College GameDay will be on Austin for No. 1 Alabama's bout with Texas (which is three spots outside of the AP Top 25) in an SEC preview, the greater college football world may be more interested in what happens in the Big 12 preview in Provo.
Take away the logos and BYU-Baylor might be even better.
Baylor reporter David Smoak from Sic Em 365 joined ESPN 960 in Utah County to discuss the "new rivalry" that may be forming between BYU and Baylor, the two private religious institutions in the new Big 12.
The series is in just its fourth game, with Baylor holding a 2-1 lead. But it's already produced a few classics, such as the Bears' four-point win in Provo in 1983 when Steve Young threw for 351 yards and ran for 113 more but couldn't overcome Alfred Anderson's 144 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. That, of course, preceded BYU's 47-13 win in Waco in the historic 1984 season.
"There's already a little bit of (history)," Smoak said. "You talk about private schools, Brigham Young with its great history for what they've done under LaVell Edwards and all the great quarterbacks. But it's just two programs in quality places, and it's refreshing.
"Sometimes a rivalry can come from playing for 100 years or competing for national titles. That's not the case here, but there is a little bit of history from what happened nearly 40 years ago. And I think, for some reason, it makes sense. ... It just seems to fit. Sometimes things happen for a reason, and Brigham Young and Baylor decided to start playing each other — and now they're going to be in the same conference."
In the immortal words of Troy and Gabriella: "This could be the start of something new."
Smoak also talked about the Baylor run game, which helped the Bears roll by BYU a year ago in Waco, as well as former East High standout Apu Ika, who now dominates the middle of Baylor's defensive line and is a likely NFL draft pick.
You can listen to part of the interview on the KSL.com Cougar Beat podcast. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and don't forget to leave a rating and review.
