More BYU Buzz

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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The preseason hype machine just keeps on pumping out positive press. Not a day goes by without another national media outlet touting the BYU Cougars and their chances to bust the BCS.

A sampling of current articles on ESPN.com alone...

First, writer Mark Schlabach lists BYU in his updated preseason Top 25:

13. BYU Cougars The Cougars have their sights set on a BCS bowl invitation, but they'll have to do it without top fullback Manase Tonga. The senior was ruled academically ineligible and will miss the 2008 season. Tonga ran for 305 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 27 passes for 248 yards last season. He also was a great lead blocker for Harvey Unga, who last year became the first BYU freshman to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

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Then, Schlabach breaks down bowl possibilities by conference:

Mountain West Conference

BCS bowl contenders

BYU: Early games at Washington and against UCLA will go a long way in determining whether the Cougars can crash the BCS party. With 13 starters coming back, including quarterback Max Hall, BYU might be poised to become the third unbeaten non-BCS team in as many regular seasons.

Should go bowling

Air Force

New Mexico

TCU

Utah

Wait till 2009

Colorado State

San Diego State

UNLV

Wyoming

(by the way, Schlabach projects BYU to play Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, and he's not the first national writer to do so).

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Writer Pat Forde lists midseason predictions. Among them:

9. The one unit in all of college football with the most on its shoulders is BYU's secondary. If that quartet of new starters comes through, the Cougars can go 12-0 and crash the BCS. If not, how does a fourth straight Las Vegas Bowl sound? The good news for BYU is that the two high-profile early tests (at Washington on Sept. 6 and UCLA on Sept. 13) are against teams that don't throw the ball with great distinction.

and...

3. Rick Neuheisel won't bet on his own team in the office bowl pool. The new UCLA coach got a mulligan and a bad lie at the same time. He's back in the game after being justifiably shunned for years, but inherits an offense that hasn't thrown for even 200 yards in a game since the fifth contest of 2007, then saw both its leading quarterbacks get hurt in spring ball. With only nine starters back and a nonconference schedule of Tennessee, BYU and Fresno State, the Bruins won't go bowling in '08.

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