# 1996 BYU Cougars football team

The 1996 Brigham Young Cougars football team represented the Brigham Young University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were the first team during the so-called "Modern era" (post 1937) to play 15 games in a season, and the only one to do it when Division I-A teams normally played 11 regular season games. Firstly, a team was able to play a designated "kickoff" opening game and not have it count against the allowed game total, then they played at Hawaii which did not count against the allowed total. That allowed BYU to play 13 regular season games. They then played a conference championship game and a bowl game in the Cotton Bowl Classic bringing the total to 15 games.
During the 2002 and 2003 seasons teams were allowed to schedule 12 games as well as a "kickoff" game. As a result, the 2003 Kansas State Wildcats became only the second team to play a 15-game season, finishing with an 11-4 record. The kickoff game exemption was eliminated in 2005, but the Hawaii exemption remains in place.
Since 2014, it has again been possible for teams to play a 15-game schedule without playing in Hawaii because of the 4 team playoff system. The next team to do this without the aid of the playoff would be the 2019 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 24 | 10:00 am | No. 13 Texas A&M* | | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah (Pigskin Classic) | ABC | W 41–37 | 55,229 |
| August 31 | 7:00 pm | Arkansas State* | No. 19 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 58–9 | 63,681 |
| September 14 | 1:30 pm | at Washington* | No. 14 | Husky StadiumSeattle | ABC | L 17–29 | 71,165 |
| September 21 | 12:00 pm | New Mexico | | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 17–14 | 63,587 |
| September 28 | 12:00 pm | SMU | No. 24 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 31–3 | 62,537 |
| October 4 | 7:00 pm | at Utah State* | No. 21 | Romney StadiumLogan, Utah (The Old Wagon Wheel) | KUTV | W 45–17 | 33,119 |
| October 12 | 12:00 pm | UNLV | No. 19 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 63–28 | 64,872 |
| October 19 | 7:00 pm | at Tulsa | No. 18 | Skelly StadiumTulsa, Oklahoma | ESPN2 | W 55–30 | 34,624 |
| October 26 | 1:00 pm | at TCU | No. 15 | Amon G. Carter StadiumFort Worth, Texas | KSL | W 45–21 | 28,961 |
| November 2 | 12:00 pm | UTEP | No. 13 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 40–18 | 64,938 |
| November 9 | 12:00 pm | Rice | No. 12 | Cougar StadiumProvo, Utah | KSL | W 49–0 | 65,732 |
| November 16 | 10:00 pm | at Hawaii | No. 10 | Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI | KSL | W 45–14 | 16,468 |
| November 23 | 10:30 am | at Utah | No. 8 | Rice StadiumSalt Lake City (Holy War) | ESPN | W 37–17 | 35,378 |
| December 7 | 2:30 pm | vs. No. 20 Wyoming | No. 6 | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, Nevada (WAC Championship Game) | ABC | W 28–25 $^{OT}$ | 41,328 |
| January 1 | 12:30 pm | vs. No. 14 Kansas State* | No. 5 | Cotton BowlDallas (Cotton Bowl Classic) | CBS | W 19–15 | 71,928 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | — | 19 | 16 | 14 | — | 24 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Coaches | — | | 16 | 15 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |