{"id":3596,"date":"2026-07-12T23:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3596"},"modified":"2026-07-12T23:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:07:26","slug":"preseason-publicity-has-byu-in-position-to-strike-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3596","title":{"rendered":"Preseason publicity has BYU in position to strike big"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Talk is cheap, but it can also be priceless at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>The circle of life is simple for a program like BYU. Being touted as a preseason contender influences poll position; Poll position attracts attention; Attention breeds viewership; Viewership determines kickoff times and television outlets.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3594\">Opinion: Let\u2019s not overdo the \u2018purity culture\u2019 critique<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those elements, when combined, shape the tone and tenor of the pundits, which in turn influence those who initiate the College Football Playoff rankings. The top 12 teams in the final poll are admitted into their grandiose post-season.<\/p>\n<p>This leaves the Cougars with two battles to fight \u2014 public relations and performance. Understandably, performance wins out in the end, but the ending is so often choreographed by private and public perception.<\/p>\n<p>So far, BYU is killing it in the PR phase. <\/p>\n<p>The Cougars are coming off a 12-2 season with a bevy of returning stars, including the Big 12\u2019s reigning Offensive Player of the Year in running back LJ Martin. BYU also signed the highest-rated recruiting class in program history, and it extended head coach Kalani Sitake to a long-term contract.<\/p>\n<p>If last week\u2019s Big 12 Media Days produced anything newsworthy, it was the fact that the Cougars are considered as contenders, if not the team to beat in the conference. Sportswriter Stewart Mandel of The Athletic even went so far as to proclaim BYU, entering its fourth year in the Big 12, as the No. 1 brand in the league.<\/p>\n<h3>Public relations<\/h3>\n<p>Here is the good PR the Cougars have built up heading into this fall:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>LJ Martin:<\/b> The best running back in the Big 12 last year is picked to be the best runner again this year, earning honors as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. This means, instead of working all season just to make a name for himself, like he did in 2025, Martin begins 2026 already in conversations for the NFL Draft and national awards, including the Doak Walker and Heisman Trophy.<\/li>\n<li><b>Bruce Mitchell:<\/b> With the goal of extending the pipeline of BYU offensive linemen to the NFL, the senior center begins the season on the All-Big 12 squad and anchors a sizable line to enhance the performance of Martin and quarterback Bear Bachmeier.<\/li>\n<li><b>Faletau Satuala: <\/b>Heralded as a preseason All-Big 12 selection, the junior safety returns as BYU\u2019s leading tackler (84) and with three interceptions, including a 40-yard Pick Six at Iowa State. The healing process for his foot fracture has Satuala expected to be ready for the season opener against Utah Tech (Sept. 5).<\/li>\n<li><b>Cade Uluave: <\/b>A transfer from Cal, the preseason All-Big 12 linebacker will fill the void left by Jack Kelly, a sixth-round pick by New York Giants. Kelly\u2019s performance, and BYU\u2019s success on defense during their 23-4 run over the last two seasons, will have a spotlight waiting for Uluave.<\/li>\n<li><b>Keanu Tanuvasa: <\/b>When the interior defensive linemen chose to return to BYU for one more year of NFL prep, he kept the Cougars solidified up front. Another preseason All-Big 12 body, Tanuvasa and his 6-4, 300-pound frame, is ready for one last ride.<\/li>\n<li><b>Bear Bachmeier: <\/b>As a true freshman who threw for over 3,000 yards, ran for over 500 and won 12 games, Bachmeier earned Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year accolades<b>. <\/b>He will hardly fly under the radar this season, but he can take motivation that to be the league\u2019s top quarterback, he\u2019ll need to do even more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to the firepower, BYU has seven home games, including a potential off-the-charts clash against Notre Dame on Oct. 17 in a game that will embolden both teams\u2019 strength of schedule (and PR campaigns) no matter who wins.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, the public relations part of 2026 is in place and ready to go, like teeing up a Titleist on the first hole at Riverside Country Club. The second phase, the performance, is all on Kalani Sitake and his guys.<\/p>\n<h3>Performance<\/h3>\n<p>As we witnessed in 2024, not even the best PR can beat performance. Utah, Kansas State and Oklahoma State received all the accolades ahead of the season. The Utes, newcomers to the conference, were picked first, followed by Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Arizona State was picked last with BYU (13) and Colorado (11) also near the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3592\">Opinion: Reclaiming the American promise at 250<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once the games kicked off, things changed dramatically. By the end of the season, the Cougars, Sun Devils, Buffalos and Iowa State were all tied for first place. Utah plummeted into a tie for 13th and Oklahoma State finished last.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the PR was so bad for the Big 12 that they stopped producing a preseason poll altogether. On3 Sports came up with their own coaches\u2019 poll last week and declared BYU No. 1.<\/p>\n<p>There have been years when the Cougars kicked off a season without any national notoriety and they made the most of it by winning games. Unranked to begin 1984, BYU went undefeated to claim the program\u2019s first national championship, which has been a forever source of good PR. <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Cougars play in a different world where obscurity is the enemy. They need to be out front, playing good teams on national television in prime time, beating many of them and raising money while they do it. This is why performance and public relations are a tag team as vital as offense and defense.<\/p>\n<p>In mid-July, the PR is way out ahead of the performance, just as it should be for good programs this time of year. Refreshingly, it will give the Cougars a chance to prove the pundits right instead of wrong when it\u2019s time to perform.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, talk can be cheap, but sometimes it can also be priceless. For BYU, this could be one of those times.<\/p>\n<p><i>Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv\/ESPN+. He co-hosts \u201cY\u2019s Guys\u201d at ysguys.com and is the author of the children\u2019s book \u201cC is for Cougar,\u201d available at deseretbook.com <\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3591\">Opinion: Strengthening a culture that teaches about purity the right way<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Talk is cheap, but it can also be priceless at the same time. The circle of life is simple for a program like BYU. Being touted as a preseason contender influences poll position; Poll position attracts attention; Attention breeds viewership; Viewership determines kickoff times and television outlets. Read more Opinion: Let\u2019s not overdo the \u2018purity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Preseason publicity has BYU in position to strike big - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3596\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preseason publicity has BYU in position to strike big - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Talk is cheap, but it can also be priceless at the same time. The circle of life is simple for a program like BYU. Being touted as a preseason contender influences poll position; Poll position attracts attention; Attention breeds viewership; Viewership determines kickoff times and television outlets. 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