No. 12 BYU at No. 25 Oregon Will be Under the National Spotlight

Last week, BYU made a splash on the national stage with a home win over no. 9 Baylor. BYU-Baylor racked up 2.4 million views, the most in the late-night window since 2016. BYU’s win impressed AP voters – the Cougars jumped up to no. 12 in the AP poll. For the second consecutive week, BYU has a chance to play in the national spotlight with a trip to no. 25 Oregon on deck.

All Eyes on the Cougars and the Ducks

BYU-Oregon will draw extra attention this weekend as it is one of only two ranked matchups in week three. The other ranked matchup is between no. 13 Miami and no. 24 Texas A&M, that game will be played a few hours later in the primetime window.

Additionally, BYU-Oregon is one of only four top 25 games with a single-digit spread. As of this writing, Oregon is a 3.5-point favorite over BYU. The other three top 25 games with single-digit spreads are no. 22 Penn State (-3.0) vs Auburn, no. 11 Michigan State vs Washington, and no. 13 Miami vs no. 24 Texas A&M (-5.5).

On average, top 10 teams are favored by 30 points this weekend, and that excludes three top 10 teams (Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Arkansas) that are scheduled to face FCS foes.

College football fans and analysts will be craving good games this weekend, and BYU-Oregon looks to be one of a limited few games that could satisfy that craving.

A Favorable TV Window

Fox will nationally televise BYU-Oregon during the 3:30 ET window. There are eight other games competing for viewership during that window:

1. No. 22 Penn State at Auburn – CBS

2. No. 20 Ole Miss at Georgia Tech – ABC

3. Colorado at Minnesota – ESPN2

4. New Mexico State at Wisconsin – Big Ten Network

5. Vanderbilt at NIU – CBS Sports Network

6. Stony Brook at UMass – ESPN3

7. Georgia Southern at UAB – Stadium

8. Troy at Appalachian State – ESPN+

Of those eight games, only Penn State-Auburn and Ole Miss-Georgia Tech pose a threat to surpass BYU-Oregon in viewership.

If the Cougars can perform well against the Ducks, the stage is set to make another splash on the national stage. Winning at Oregon in Autzen Stadium, however, will be a challenge for Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program. There’s a reason why Oregon is favored in this game – Oregon has talent all over its roster. The Ducks played a tune-up game last week against Eastern Washington where they put up 70 points.

BYU’s defense, fresh off one of the best defensive performances in the Kalani Sitake era, will be tasked with shutting down Oregon quarterback and Auburn transfer Bo Nix. Nix is known for both his playmaking ability and his tendency to make some mistakes. If BYU can force some Oregon turnovers and establish the run, the Cougars will have a very good chance to leave Autzen Stadium with a win. And if they do, the college football world will notice.