BYU Football Ranks Top Five in Returning Snaps

BYU is one of the more experienced teams in college football in 2026

BYU Running Back LJ Martin against Stanford | BYU Photo

Returning production has always been important in college football. Before the transfer portal era, teams could grow old together and build towards conference championships together. In the transfer portal era, roster retention has become less common across the sport. Teams that can retain players, like BYU has largely been able to do, have an advantage in this era.

Going into 2026, BYU returns more experience than almost any team in the country. CBS Sports recently released a study that measured the returning snap percentage for every FBS team. BYU, who returns 63% of snaps from a season ago, ranks third nationally behind only Notre Dame and Maryland.

BYU ranks 4th nationally in returning defensive snaps (65%) and 11th nationally in returning offensive snaps (60%).

Returning snaps is a similar measure to returning production, a measure that is released annually by Bill Connelly. Unlike returning production, however, returning snaps is not weighted. Another important distinction: returning snaps does not factor in the production of incoming transfers.

Not only does BYU rank first in the Big 12 in returning snaps, no other Big 12 team ranks inside the top 20. Below are the returning snap percentages in the Big 12.

1. BYU - 63% (3rd nationally)
2. Texas Tech - 52% (21st)
3. Houston - 50% (30th)
4. TCU - 45% (48th)
5. Arizona - 44% (51st)
6. UCF - 42% (57th)
7. Kansas - 42% (58th)
8. Kansas State - 40% (69th)
9. Utah - 39% (74th)
10. Cincinnati - 33% (94th)
11. Arizona State - 31% (101st)
12. Baylor - 30% (107th)
13. Colorado - 21% (127th)
14. WVU - 19% (130th)
15. Oklahoma State - 10% (134th)
16. Iowa State - 10% (135th)

BYU and Texas Tech, who faced each other in the championship game last year, rank at the top of the league in returning snaps. That's why both BYU and Texas Tech are viewed as the two favorites to win the league in 2026.

BYU will host three teams that rank 100 or worse in returning snap percentage. The Cougars are scheduled to host ASU (101), Baylor (107), and Iowa State (135).

Notre Dame, who will be a top five team going into the 2026 season, comes to Provo in October. The Fighting Irish have a light schedule before their trip to Provo, so it is very likely that they will be undefeated when they come to take on BYU. Nobody returns more snaps from a season ago than Notre Dame.

If BYU can take care of business leading into that game, particularly in games against Arizona and TCU, BYU-Notre Dame could be a top 10 matchup and one of the most anticipated games in the history of LaVell Edwards Stadium.