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100-697: In its beginnings, the Bowl Alliance involved the SEC , Big Eight , SWC , ACC , and Big East conference champions, as well as independent Notre Dame . Because of this, only one at-large slot was available for teams to vie for. With the disbanding of the Big Eight and SWC following the 1995 football season and the formation of the Big 12 Conference in its wake, an additional at-large bid became available. The Alliance bowls were held on three successive days in each of

200-465: A "blackout" jersey for a home game against Oregon State with royal blue accents and black facemasks. The endzones were also painted black for the occasion. In subsequent seasons, BYU has often had one blackout game per year. In 2013, BYU introduced an all-royal combination (with the exception of the helmets, which remained its traditional white) against Utah. They wore it once more the following year against Utah State. The combination did not reappear until

300-655: A #5 ranking in the AP poll, BYU was excluded from a Bowl Alliance bowl and was relegated to the Cotton Bowl (which of the major bowls had been left out when the Bowl Coalition was reformed into the Bowl Alliance), beating Kansas State to finish the season 14–1. The Bowl Coalition was at risk of antitrust enforcement because of its monopoly limiting participation in the most recognized bowls to members of just

400-735: A 2-7 conference record. In 1984, BYU was awarded a consensus National Championship. † Co-champions BYU has won two division championships, both in the Western Athletic Conference . † Co-champions BYU has made 40 bowl appearances with a record of 17–22–1. They have played in the Holiday Bowl (4–6–1), the Cotton Bowl Classic (1–0), the Las Vegas Bowl (3–3), the Copper Bowl (1–0),

500-696: A bowl game every season he was head coach and saw Top 25 finishes in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. On September 1, 2010, BYU announced it would begin competition as a football independent starting in the 2011 season, primarily due to years of frustration with the lack of TV coverage in the Mountain West Conference and the University of Utah's departure for the Pac-12 Conference. That same day, BYU announced an 8-year contract with ESPN in which 11 games would be broadcast on one of

600-641: A drop-back passing game considered to be an early implementation of the West Coast offense , resulting in Cougar Pete Van Valkenburg as the nation's leading rusher for that year. The following year, the Cougars struggled to a 5–6 finish, but this would be Edwards' only losing season during his run as BYU coach over the next three decades. In fact, the Cougars won the conference championship every year except one from 1974 to 1985, including

700-655: A few conferences. LaVell Edwards , BYU's head coach , testified in Congress at that time about the inherent unfairness in recruiting for teams who were excluded from bowls simply because of conference affiliation. With the pressure of potential Congressional action, the Bowl Alliance reformed into the Bowl Championship Series that not only included the Big Ten and the Pac-10 conference but also cracked open

800-408: A gray facemask that paid tribute to former Cougar and Houston Oilers quarterback Gifford Nielsen for their game at the University of Houston. The team wore the gray facemasks several times that season, which was highlighted by the most frequent usage of the royal blue in decades. In March 2021, the program added two new helmets to their collection, with royal blue helmets paying tribute to the teams of

900-515: A home-and-home basis. Each of the 14 members in the conference in 2023 will play either Oklahoma or Texas in 2024 and '25, but not both. Whether the conference schedule stays at 8 games or expands to 9 after 2025, each team will be guaranteed of playing all other conference teams home and away in a four-year cycle. The requirement of scheduling at least one Power Four (the Pac-12 lost all but two of its members, Oregon State and Washington State , before

1000-612: A joint letter, Texas president Jay Hartzell and Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. wrote, "We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC." On July 29, 2021, the presidents of the current 14 schools of the SEC voted unanimously to extend an offer of admission to Oklahoma and Texas. The boards of regents for both institutions on July 30, 2021, accepted conference membership, and

1100-681: A last second touchdown pass on a fake punt, Coach Edwards was carried off the field following the season closer against the Utes . Former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Gary Crowton was hired to replace Edwards. His first season in 2001 was successful, earning a 12–2 record and running back Luke Staley earning the Doak Walker Award , but the Cougars posted losing records the following three seasons (including only nine conference wins)–BYU's first losing records in three decades. His teams also received negative publicity for infractions of

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1200-756: A payout to the SEC conference. ^ The Sugar Bowl is contractually obligated to select the SEC champion if that team is not participating in the College Football Playoff. In years where the champion is unavailable the Playoff Committee will assign another SEC team to participate in the Sugar. Alternatively, in years where the Sugar hosts a playoff game the SEC Champion will be sent to the Fiesta, Cotton, or Peach Bowl if not selected for

1300-503: A profit, enjoying five times the Group of Five average revenue ($ 13 million). On September 10, 2021, the Big 12 Conference announced they had sent invitations to BYU to join the conference, along with Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston. BYU accepted the invitation and began competing in the conference in the 2023 season. BYU struggled during its first season of Big 12 play in 2023, finishing 5-7 for

1400-400: A spinal cord injury suffered during a football practice before ever playing a game, while Dillard suffered a career-altering injury before getting a chance to play for Vanderbilt's varsity and transferred to Eastern Michigan . The remaining two both played in the 1967–68 school year. Northington made his overall debut against Indiana on September 23, 1967 and his SEC debut against Ole Miss

1500-406: A telegram to the state's Board of Regents requesting Georgia Tech not to engage in racially integrated events, Georgia Tech's president Blake R. Van Leer rejected the request and threatened to resign. The game went on as planned. The 1959 Mississippi State men's basketball team, led by all-American Bailey Howell , finished its season 24–1, winning the conference title. They did not participate in

1600-438: A uniform 6-game schedule from 1974 to 1987, and added a seventh conference game from 1988 to 1991. Through this period and through the earlier years each SEC school had five permanent opponents, developing some traditional rivalries between schools, and the other games rotated around the other members of the conference. After expansion to twelve programs in 1992, the SEC went to an 8-game conference schedule, with each team playing

1700-409: A variation on the "away" combination with some styling changes to pay tribute to the uniforms of the 1960s. This last alternate uniform was accompanied by a throwback midfield logo and an endzone paint scheme that matched the field design used by BYU in the 1960s. A more modern design of the retro combination appeared in a game at the end of the season at San Diego State. In 2020, the team reintroduced

1800-558: A victory over the Michigan Wolverines (6–5–0). The victory over Michigan, 24–17 in the Holiday Bowl, marked the only time a national champion played in a bowl game before New Year's Day, and the last time a national championship was determined by a team from a non-power 5 conference. Coupled with the 11 consecutive wins to close out the 1983 season , BYU concluded the 1984 championship on a 24-game winning streak. At

1900-586: Is membership in the Association of American Universities . Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance. The following table shows institutional reporting to

2000-630: Is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A. The SEC was established in 1932 by 13 members of the Southern Conference . Three charter members left by the late 1960s, but additions in 1990 and 2012 grew the conference to 14 member institutions. The conference expanded to 16 members with the addition of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas in 2024. In 1992 ,

2100-629: The 1956 Sugar Bowl , when the Pitt Panthers , with African-American fullback Bobby Grier on the roster, met the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets . White southern segregationists created controversy by claiming that Grier should be barred from the game due to his race, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin 's opposition to racial integration. After Griffin publicly sent

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2200-517: The American Athletic Conference , a Group of Five conference), BYU (before it joined the Big 12 in 2023), and Notre Dame . In 2023, the SEC announced the divisional split would be scrapped when Oklahoma and Texas join in 2024. The conference schedule will remain at 8 games in the 2024 and 2025 seasons while the SEC determines its long-term football scheduling format. Teams will play the same opponents in both seasons on

2300-478: The Appalachian Mountains left to form their own conference. Ten of the thirteen founding members have remained in the conference since its inception: the University of Alabama , Auburn University , the University of Florida , the University of Georgia , the University of Kentucky , Louisiana State University ("LSU"), the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), Mississippi State University ,

2400-400: The Big 12 Conference unanimously accepted BYU's application to the conference. BYU officially joined the Big 12 on July 1, 2023. The team plays home games at the 62,073 seat LaVell Edwards Stadium , named after head coach LaVell Edwards who won 19 conference championships, seven bowl games, and one national championship (1984) while coaching at BYU. BYU traces its football roots back to

2500-592: The Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences and the Rose Bowl to form the Bowl Championship Series beginning with the 1998 college football season . The Bowl Alliance awarded its own trophy to the winner of its designated national championship game. The Alliance trophy was a large crystal chalice . It was awarded to the winning coach on the field immediately following the Alliance national championship game. Because

2600-467: The Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences were contractually tied to the Rose Bowl via automatic bids for their conference champions, their conference champions could not participate in the Alliance Bowls. Nevertheless, the conferences could be represented in the games if one of their teams procured an at-large bid to a Bowl Alliance game. This occurred twice, with Penn State and Ohio State playing in

2700-741: The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 1979 , the AFCA (Kodak) Coach of the Year Award in 1984 , and the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (career achievement) in 2003 . BYU has had 14 Consensus All-Americans. From the 1970s to 1999—a period coinciding with some of the school's best and most prominent football seasons—BYU school colors were royal blue and white. The football team generally wore royal blue jerseys and white pants at home, and white jerseys and royal blue pants on

2800-573: The Georgia Dome through 2016, and since 2017 at its replacement, Mercedes-Benz Stadium , with the current hosting contract running through 2027. The "home team" designation alternated between the division champions during the divisional era, going to the East champion in even-numbered years and the West champion in odd-numbered years. The West led 19-13 in overall wins in the championship game against

2900-479: The Georgia Dome until its closure and demolition after the 2016 season, and since 2017 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium . On September 25, 2011, the SEC Presidents and Chancellors, acting unanimously, announced that Texas A&M University would join the SEC effective July 1, 2012, to begin competition in nineteen of the twenty sports sponsored by the SEC during the 2012–13 academic year. On November 6, 2011,

3000-475: The Heisman Trophy in 1983 and McMahon finished third for the trophy in 1981. In 1984 , BYU reached the pinnacle of college football when it was recognized as college football national champions, being the only unbeaten, untied team in the nation. The undefeated Cougars (12–0–0) opened the season with a 20–14 victory over Pitt (3–7–1), ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time and finished the season with

3100-718: The Independence Bowl (0-1). BYU's football program has two historic rivalries: one with the Utah Utes in a game referred to as " The Holy War ", and another with the Utah State Aggies in "The Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel ". BYU competes with Utah, and Utah State for the Beehive Boot . Both of these series have experienced dormancy in recent years due to various conference changes between

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3200-775: The SEC Championship Game pitted the SEC West Division representative against the East Division representative in a game held after the regular season has been completed. Starting in 2024, when the SEC eliminates its football divisions, the game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings. The first two SEC Championship football games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama . Since 1994, it has been played in Atlanta —first at

3300-564: The South Central and Southeastern United States . Its 16 members include the flagship public universities of 12 states, three additional public land-grant universities , and one private research university. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama . The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in sports competitions. In football , it

3400-1207: The Tangerine/Citrus Bowl (0–2), the Freedom Bowl (1–1), the Liberty Bowl (0–2), the Aloha Bowl (0–1), the Fiesta Bowl (0–1), the Motor City Bowl (0–1), the All-American Bowl (0–1), the New Mexico Bowl (2–0), the Armed Forces Bowl (1–0), the Poinsettia Bowl (2–0), Fight Hunger Bowl (0–1), the Miami Beach Bowl (0–1), the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (1–0), Hawaii Bowl (0–1), Boca Raton Bowl (1–0), and

3500-739: The United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2021–22 academic year. The following table shows revenue specifically from NCAA / Conference Distributions, Media Rights, and Post-Season Football reported by the Knight Commission for the 2021–22 academic year. The Southeastern Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Under SEC conference rules reflecting

3600-631: The University of Tennessee , and Vanderbilt University ("Vandy"). The SEC had no formal headquarters during its first eight years of existence, but in 1940, former Governor of Mississippi Martin "Mike" Conner was named the conference's first president, with the league establishing its first corporate headquarters on the 13th floor of the Standard Life Building in downtown Jackson, Mississippi . The SEC office remained there until 1948, when it moved to Birmingham, Alabama , where it remains. The three founding members that have since left

3700-790: The YMCA of Salt Lake City, the Wheel Club of Denver, and Westminster College ; and it ultimately won the championship. In its second year of competition, the BYA football team won the championship too, but as a result of an accidental football-related death in Utah in 1900, football was banned from all LDS Church schools until 1919. After a 20-year ban on football, the sport was brought back to BYU on an intramural basis in 1919, and intercollegiate games were resumed in 1920 under coach Alvin Twitchell . BYU

3800-428: The university's honor code . He was forced to resign on December 1, 2004. BYU originally offered the job to Utah defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham , who had played for Edwards in the late 1970s. However, when Whittingham opted instead to become head coach at Utah, the Cougars instead offered the job to BYU defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall , who accepted. Bronco Mendenhall brought stability and success to

3900-542: The "Power 5" requirement, a stipulation also held by the SEC. Weeks later, both leagues reversed course and opted to count games against BYU and the other remaining FBS independent at that time, Army , toward meeting the P5 provision. In the case of the SEC, this change in policy was driven more by the trend of "Power 5" leagues requiring nine conference games. At the time of the report, the Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-12 either had nine-game conference schedules or were introducing them in

4000-649: The 1967–68 school year. The first African American to compete in the SEC was Stephen Martin, who walked on to the Tulane baseball team in that school's final SEC season of 1966. In August of that same year, Kentucky enrolled Nate Northington and Greg Page on football scholarships, and Vanderbilt enrolled Godfrey Dillard and Perry Wallace on basketball scholarships. At the time, the NCAA did not allow freshmen to compete on varsity teams, which meant that these pioneers could not play until 1967. Page died from complications of

4100-495: The 1970s and navy blue helmets reminiscent of the combinations used from 1999-2004; the navy helmet especially recognized the highly successful 2001 team that featured players such as Luke Staley and Brandon Doman. As of 2008, 146 BYU Cougars football players have gone on to play professional football. Team alumni have competed in 48 NFL Super Bowls , including Super Bowl MVP Steve Young and two-time Super Bowl winner Jim McMahon . One former Cougar has won multiple Super Bowls as

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4200-530: The 2011–2012 season. Following expansion, the SEC was the first conference to receive permission from the NCAA to sponsor an annual football championship game that did not count against NCAA limits on regular-season contests, featuring the winners of the conference's Eastern and Western divisions. The 1992 and 1993 championship games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, and all championship games from 1994 onward have been held in Atlanta —first at

4300-630: The 2013 BYU football season, the Cougars were slated to compete against four pre-season-ranked teams. In January 2015, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which had previously announced that from 2017 forward all members had to play at least one non-conference game each season against a " Power 5 " team (i.e., a school in the ACC, Big Ten , Big 12 , Pac-12 , or SEC , plus Notre Dame , an FBS independent but otherwise an ACC member), announced that games against BYU would not count toward

4400-521: The 2015 season, but the SEC presidents voted 10–4 in April 2014 to keep the current format for an additional six to eight seasons beyond 2015. Additionally, since 2016, SEC teams have been required to schedule at least one opponent each season from the other so-called "Power Five" conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac-12); games against select football independent schools also qualify, including Army (which no longer counts as of 2024 due to it joining

4500-604: The 2018 Potato Bowl against Western Michigan. In 2015, renditions of the "throwback" royal blue uniforms appeared, once in the team's Homecoming game against East Carolina, and again against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. With the hiring of Kalani Sitake as head coach at the end of 2015, BYU has seen the gradual return of wearing royal blue combinations. They initially only made appearances in rivalry and other campus event games, but from 2017 onward, they have been worn more regularly. In 2019, several new combinations were introduced, including an all-white combination with royal accents, and

4600-512: The 2024 season; the Beavers have meetings with Ole Miss scheduled in 2027 and 2030, while the Cougars are slated to face Mississippi State in 2030 and '31) team or Notre Dame remains in place. The championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings, with tiebreakers as needed. Through end of the 2023 season including SEC Championship Game. Records reflect official NCAA results, including any forfeits or win vacating. Notes: From its establishment in 1992 through 2023,

4700-426: The BYU program after the Crowton years. At the time of his hiring, the 38-year-old Mendenhall was the second youngest Division 1 football head coach in the country. As the legendary LaVell Edwards told him shortly after being hired, "‘You have a tough job.’ Then there was a pause and silence,” says Mendenhall. “It wasn't very comforting to hear that. But then he just said, ‘But it's a great job.’” Mendenhall led BYU to

4800-464: The Big XII Conference added a Power Five non-conference scheduling requirement and stated that BYU would not count toward filling that mandate. On December 4, 2015, Mendenhall accepted the head coach position with Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). His 99 wins in 11 seasons are second all-time in school history, behind only Edwards. BYU spent more than a week courting Navy Midshipmen football head coach Ken Niumatalolo to take over

4900-403: The Bowl Alliance failed to include the Pac-10, Big Ten (and thus the Rose Bowl), or any so-called mid-major conferences, the Bowl Alliance was reformed just three years after it began. BYU 's performance opened the door for mid-major conferences to participate in upper-tier bowls as well. In 1996, despite 18 conference championships in 23 years, one of the winningest records in college football and

5000-459: The Coaches and AP polls, and became the first team in NCAA history to win 14 games in a season. In 1999, BYU left the WAC along with seven other teams to form the Mountain West Conference , with the Cougars winning a share of the inaugural MWC championship. With the change of conferences, BYU also debuted a new color scheme, featuring a darker shade of blue, a redesigned cougar logo, and the introduction of tan as an accent color. 1999 also featured

5100-532: The Cougars achieved their first victory over a top-ranked team when they defeated the No. 1 Miami Hurricanes early in the season, and the season culminated with quarterback Ty Detmer becoming BYU's first and only Heisman Trophy winner. In 1996, BYU won the first ever WAC Championship Game in Las Vegas and earned a bid to play in the Cotton Bowl against Kansas State of the newly formed Big 12 Conference , making it BYU's first ever New Year's Day bowl game, which they won 19–15. BYU finished ranked No. 5 in both

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5200-408: The Cougars program. After several days, which included a visit to Provo and public remarks about considering the job, Niumatalolo ultimately declined BYU's offer in order to remain with Navy. Athletics director Tom Holmoe moved on to several other potential candidates and on Dec. 19 introduced Oregon State defensive coordinator and former Cougars fullback Kalani Sitake as BYU's next head coach. At

5300-399: The ESPN networks and BYU would retain the rights to utilize its on-campus broadcasting facilities and nationally syndicated station . The Cougars were reportedly considered for invitations by the Big XII Conference and former Big East Conference for all sports during this period, but neither opted to add BYU. In February 2011, CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award -winner Ben Cahoon joined

5400-456: The East during the divisional era. As of 2023, the only pre-2024 members without a Championship Game appearance are Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt. The post-season bowl game tie-ins for the SEC for the 2014–2019 seasons are: Payout is per team for the 2014 season; if different for opposing conference, payout for the SEC team is shown. Each conference member, irrespective of bowl participation, also receives an equal split of

5500-459: The Fiesta and Sugar Bowls in 1997 and 1998. CBS and ABC split television coverage of the Bowl Alliance, with CBS acquiring the rights to the Orange and Fiesta Bowls from NBC following their 1995 playings and ABC already being in possession of the Sugar Bowl rights as they had been since 1970. In the last two years of the Bowl Alliance, the possibility existed for a split national championship. In 1996, No. 1 Florida State played No. 3 Florida for

5600-409: The NCAA tournament as school and state officials would not permit the team to play against Black players from northern schools. Four years later, in 1963, Loyola , with four black starters, played Mississippi State in the " Game of Change ". It was not until 1966 that African Americans first participated in an SEC athletic contest, and the first black scholarship athletes did not play in the SEC until

5700-442: The Rose Bowl, which ensured that the winner of the Orange Bowl would receive a share of the national championship; the game was won by Nebraska, marking the third time in four years that they had been recognized as the national champion and the second time that they had been part of a split championship after the 1994 Bowl Coalition's final rankings. Following the 1997 season the Bowl Alliance's member conferences and bowls joined with

5800-460: The SEC Executive Committee and liaison to SECU. In an interview with Dr. Zeppos about the formation of the SECU he noted, "that the member institutions of the Southeastern Conference are committed to a shared mission of fostering research, scholarship, and achievement. The SEC Symposium represents a platform to connect, collaborate and promote a productive dialogue that will span disciplinary and institutional boundaries and allow us to work together for

5900-411: The SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri would also join the SEC on July 1, 2012. For football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division. Texas A&M and Missouri both left the Big 12 Conference . On July 27, 2021, Oklahoma and Texas formally notified the SEC they were seeking "an invitation for membership". In

6000-572: The SEC was the first NCAA Division I conference to have a championship game for football and was one of the founding member conferences of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The conference sponsors team championships in nine men's sports and 13 women's sports. The conference distributed $ 721.8 million to its 14 schools in 2022. The SEC consists of 16 member institutions located in the U.S. states of Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Mississippi , Missouri , Oklahoma , South Carolina , Tennessee , and Texas . The SEC

6100-404: The Southeastern Conference which are played by SEC schools: Source: SECSports.com. [REDACTED] For the current season, see 2024 Southeastern Conference football season . SEC teams did not play a uniform number of conference games until 1974. Prior to that, the number of conference games teams played ranged from four to eight, but most played a 6- or 7- game schedule. The league adopted

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6200-416: The amount and type of study abroad opportunities available for students; and providing opportunities for collaboration among SEC university personnel. The Big Ten Conference , since 1958, has had a similar program, now called the Big Ten Academic Alliance . The SEC Symposium component of SECU was crafted by Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos , who at the time was the Vice President of

6300-465: The betterment of society." The SEC Academic Network was created in 2009 in partnership with ESPN . The SEC Academic Network was an online library of institutionally produced videos featuring academic initiatives and stories from all Southeastern Conference institutions. The SEC Academic Network was officially merged into the SECU operation. The following table shows National University rank by U.S. News & World Report as of 2023. Also indicated

6400-414: The change so attractive match-ups between non-traditional opponents would happen twice every five years instead of twice every eight years. With the subsequent expansion to 14 members in 2012, non-permanent cross-division opponents face each other in the regular season twice in a span of twelve years. Under the format used from 2012 to 2023, each school played a total of eight conference games, consisting of

6500-435: The coaching staff as the wide receivers coach. In 2011 , BYU changed quarterbacks mid-season from sophomore Jake Heaps to junior Riley Nelson, and in 2012 three different quarterbacks were utilized at different points in the season. During the 2012 offseason, graduated defensive end Ziggy Ansah was drafted as the No. 5 overall pick of the 2013 NFL draft , tied for the highest draft BYU alumnus with Jim McMahon '82. For

6600-452: The conference are Sewanee , who left after the 1940 season to drop all athletic scholarships and become a D-III Independent; Georgia Tech , who left after the 1963 season and became a D-I Independent; and Tulane , who left after the 1965 season and became a D-I Independent. In 1935, the SEC became the first conference to legalize athletic scholarships . White southerners committed to maintaining segregation created controversy preceding

6700-406: The conservative fans in Provo and the NCAA, who required the team to remove the white bib on the front of the blue home jersey in 2000 (NCAA rules require that a team's jersey have a single dominant color). The home jersey thereafter was modified with blue replacing the white on the bib area. These uniforms lasted until 2004, when a uniform new style incorporating New York Jets-style shoulder stripes

6800-413: The controversial "bib" home uniforms, which only lasted for one season. Just prior to the 2000 season, Edwards announced that it would be his final year as the program's head coach, and prior to Edwards' final home game, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that Cougar Stadium would be renamed " LaVell Edwards Stadium ". After punter Aaron Edwards threw

6900-408: The door to allow the possibility of a "mid-major" team's participation. BYU's rival Utah became the first mid-major team to participate in a BCS bowl game, the 2005 Fiesta Bowl . + Denotes Bowl Alliance National Championship Game Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in

7000-416: The end of the season, BYU was voted National Champion after being number one in all four NCAA sanctioned polls AP , Coaches , NFF , and FWAA . In 1985, quarterback Robbie Bosco finished third in the Heisman balloting; in 1986 , defensive lineman Jason Buck became the first BYU player ever to win the Outland Trophy ; and in 1989, offensive lineman Mo Elewonibi also won the Outland Trophy. In 1990 ,

7100-472: The five other teams in their division and three opponents from the other division. The winners of the two divisions would then meet in the SEC Championship Game . From 1992 through 2002, each team had two permanent inter-divisional opponents, allowing many traditional rivalries from the pre-expansion era (such as Florida vs. Auburn, Kentucky vs. LSU, and Vanderbilt vs. Alabama) to continue. However, complaints from some league athletic directors about imbalance in

7200-620: The following week on September 30 (the day after Page's death ), while Wallace made his varsity debut later that year. In 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks . The two new members began SEC competition with the 1991–1992 basketball season. At the same time, the SEC organized competition for some sports into two divisions. The Western Division comprised six of

7300-415: The highest earning Mountain West school, San Diego State, generated $ 30 million in revenue, with more than 46% of that subsidized by the state of California. The Group of Five school with the most revenue without a subsidy was the University of Connecticut with $ 43 million, still nearly $ 20 million below BYU. As an independent, BYU was one of just a handful of schools in all of college athletics to generate

7400-525: The large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX ), each member institution is required to provide two more women's varsity sports than men's. A similar rule was recently adopted by the NCAA for all of Division   I. Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Southeastern Conference which are played by SEC schools: Women's varsity sports not sponsored by

7500-569: The late 19th century. Benjamin Cluff became the third principal of Brigham Young Academy (the precursor to BYU) in 1892 (the school was converted into a university in 1903) and was influenced by his collegiate studies at the University of Michigan to bring athletic competition to Brigham Young. The first BYU football team in 1896 played the University of Utah (winning 12–4), the Elks, the Crescents,

7600-579: The national championship in 1984. However, the Cougars lost their first four bowl games. Their first post-season win came in the 1980 Holiday Bowl , which has become known as the "Miracle Bowl" since BYU was trailing SMU 45–25 with four minutes left in the game and then came back to win. BYU would win its 1981, 1983, and 1984 bowl games as well; and it earned the nickname " Quarterback U " for consistently producing All-American quarterbacks, which included Gifford Nielsen , Marc Wilson , Jim McMahon and Steve Young . During this period, Young finished second for

7700-545: The national championship in the Sugar Bowl while No. 2 Pac-10 champion Arizona State was locked into playing in the Rose Bowl against No. 4 Ohio State . Arizona State lost to Ohio State in the 1997 Rose Bowl , ending the possibility for a split national championship for that season. In 1997, the same problem occurred but with the #1 team in both polls being locked out of the Bowl Alliance's championship game. Following

7800-498: The near future. The ACC has an eight-game schedule, but also has a scheduling alliance with Notre Dame that has five ACC members playing the Fighting Irish each season. Additionally, three SEC teams had a total of five games scheduled with BYU from 2015 to 2020. In July 2015, the Big Ten announced that games against BYU would count toward the conference's "Power 5" scheduling requirement that takes effect in 2016. In late 2015,

7900-433: The other six teams in its division, one school from the other division on a rotating basis, and one school from the other division that it plays each year. The permanent cross-division matchups were: Alabama–Tennessee ; Arkansas–Missouri ; Auburn–Georgia ; LSU–Florida ; Mississippi State–Kentucky; Ole Miss–Vanderbilt ; Texas A&M–South Carolina. The then-current scheduling arrangement was originally set to expire after

8000-930: The playoff. † The Big Ten and SEC will be eligible to face the ACC representative in the Orange Bowl at least three out of the eight seasons that it does not host a semifinal for the Playoff over a 12-year span. Notre Dame may be chosen the other two years if eligible. BYU Cougars football The BYU Cougars football team is the college football program representing Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah . The Cougars began collegiate football competition in 1922, and have won 23 conference championships and one national championship in 1984 . The team has competed in several different athletic conferences during its history, from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2022, they competed as an FBS Independent . On September 10, 2021,

8100-455: The regular season, the top three teams in both polls’ rankings were Michigan , Nebraska , and Tennessee . As the Big Ten champion, Michigan was contracted to play in the Rose Bowl on January 1. The Orange Bowl was to be played the next night between Nebraska and Tennessee, the top teams in the Alliance rankings, but only a Michigan loss to Washington State would result in an undisputed national champion. Michigan defeated Washington State in

8200-458: The road. In 1999, Coach Edwards' penultimate year, the school colors switched to dark blue, white, and tan, and the football helmets switched from white to dark blue. The block 'Y' remained on the sides of the helmet but received a new, more modern treatment. The home uniforms consisted of dark blue jerseys with white "bib" and dark blue pants, and the away uniforms consisted of white jerseys with white pants. These new uniforms were disliked by both

8300-483: The same time. ESPN was happy enough with its contract with BYU that it exercised an option to extend the deal through the 2019 season. ESPN also helped BYU line up bowl deals, since as an independent, BYU was not part of any league bowl tie-ins. BYU's estimated $ 67 million in annual revenue placed it 55th in total revenue in 2018. That was comparable to the lower half of the Pac-12 and more than any Group of Five school, including every Mountain West institution. In fact,

8400-401: The schedule (for instance, Auburn's two permanent opponents from the East were Florida and Georgia – two of the SEC's stronger football programs at the time – while Mississippi State played Kentucky and South Carolina every year) led to the SEC reducing the number of permanent inter-division opponents to one starting in the 2003 season. The TV networks televising SEC games were also pressuring for

8500-524: The school's finest seasons on record. The university did not field a team from 1943–1945 due to World War II, and in 1949 suffered its only winless season, going 0–11. The team began to rebuild in the mid-1950s, recruiting University of Rhode Island head coach Hal Kopp to lead the Cougars, who achieved back-to-back winning seasons in 1957 and 1958, led by southpaw quarterback Jared Stephens and nose tackle Gavin Anae. In 1961, Eldon "The Phantom" Fortie became

8600-408: The school's first All-American, and in 1962, BYU moved to the Western Athletic Conference . In 1964, Cougar Stadium was built, which included a capacity of 30,000, and in 1965, head coach Tommy Hudspeth led the Cougars to their first conference championship with a record of 6–4. In 1972, assistant coach LaVell Edwards was promoted to head coach, succeeding Hudspeth. Edwards and his staff installed

8700-471: The schools were tentatively scheduled to join the league in 2025. On February 9, 2023, the Big 12, Texas, and Oklahoma announced they had reached a buyout agreement that allowed the schools to join the SEC in 2024. The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners athletic teams thus began league play during the 2024–25 academic year. Full members  Full members (non-football)  Other Conference  Other Conference  The office of Commissioner

8800-691: The seven member schools in the Central Time Zone , while the Eastern Division comprised the five member schools in the Eastern Time Zone plus Vanderbilt, which is in the Central Time Zone but was placed in the Eastern Division to preserve its rivalry with Tennessee. Initially, the divisional format was used in football, baseball, and men's basketball. The divisional format was dropped for men's basketball following

8900-433: The team's uniform supplier, said that they could not possibly make the change in just five months, former head coach and BYU legend LaVell Edwards made a call to Nike and asked them to help the new Cougar coach. Edwards had worked with Nike on several occasions since his retirement, and with the legendary coach's weight behind the request, BYU was able to take the field in 2005 in new, traditional uniforms. One slight change in

9000-596: The three programs. Utah leads the series 62–35–4 through the 2021 season. BYU leads the series with Utah State 51–37–3 through the 2022 season. Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current Big 12 opponents as of the completion of the 2023 season. Team awards for the BYU Cougars include 23 conference titles and one national championship in 1984 . For player awards, BYU has produced 52 All-Americans (13 Consensus All-Americans). For coaching, LaVell Edwards received

9100-435: The three years of the Alliance's existence with one game played on New Year's Eve , one on New Year's Day , and one on January 2. A Bowl Alliance Poll was formed by adding together the point totals from AP Poll and Coaches' Poll . The top two ranked teams from the Alliance conferences met in the Bowl Alliance national championship game, which rotated between the three Alliance bowls and was always held on January 2. Because

9200-429: The time of his hiring, Kalani Sitake said, "I'm grateful for everything BYU gave me as a player. It's a dream come true for me to return home." While many have questioned whether independence long-term is sustainable, from a financial perspective it appeared to be so. BYU's ESPN contract was worth somewhere between $ 6–10 million annually, which was on par with what ACC teams received from a contract also negotiated around

9300-521: The two division winners met in the SEC Championship Game . The SEC eliminated its baseball and football divisions once Oklahoma and Texas joined in 2024. Three schools have left the SEC, all charter members: The SEC was established December 8 and 9, 1932, in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the Farragut Hotel, when the thirteen members of the large Southern Conference located west and south of

9400-529: The uniform came in the 2007 season, when a small traditional 'Y' logo was added to the bottom of the collar. In 2009, BYU used a throwback jersey paying tribute to the 25-year anniversary of the 1984 national championship. They were the same design as the contemporary jerseys, but used royal blue instead of navy blue. They were introduced against rival University of Utah and again in the Las Vegas Bowl against Oregon State. On October 13, 2012, BYU debuted

9500-416: The uniforms were also changed to be similar to the 1980s uniforms, the darker blue remained instead of the former royal blue, but all tan highlights were eliminated. This change was done at the insistence of new head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who wanted to return the team to the successful traditions of the 1980s. Normally, it takes a minimum of 1–2 years to create, design and approve a uniform change. When Nike,

9600-571: Was admitted to the Rocky Mountain Conference in 1921 and had its first winning year in 1929 under the helm of coach G. Ott Romney , who BYU recruited from Montana State University the year before. Romney and his successor Eddie Kimball ushered in a new era in Cougar football in which the team went 65–51–12 between 1928 and 1942. In 1932, the Cougars posted an 8–1 record and outscored their opponents 188–50, which remains one of

9700-583: Was created in 1940. In 2005, the member institutions of the Southeastern Conference formed the SEC Academic Consortium (SECAC), a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship, and achievement amongst the universities. In 2011, the SEC Academic Consortium was relocated to the SEC headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama , from its original home on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas , and

9800-537: Was formerly divided into East and West Divisions, although the divisional alignment was not strictly geographic, with Missouri in the East Division while being farther west than several West Division schools, and Auburn in the West Division despite being located farther east than East Division schools Missouri and Vanderbilt. These divisional groupings were applied only in football, baseball, and women's soccer, for both scheduling and standings purposes. In football,

9900-420: Was introduced (the helmets remained the same). The new uniforms were worn in a "mix-and-match" strategy—e.g., the home blue jerseys were worn with either blue or white pants and the white away jerseys were worn with either blue or white pants. This uniform incarnation lasted for only one season. Ultimately, the traditional design with the white helmet and former logo was re-introduced for the 2005 season. While

10000-480: Was renamed SECU. The SECU rebranded its mission to better serve as a means through which the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of Southeastern Conference universities would be promoted and advanced. The SECU's goals included highlighting the endeavors and achievements of SEC faculty , students, and its universities; advancing the academic reputation of SEC universities; identifying and preparing future leaders for high-level service in academia ; increasing

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