Reader comments
BYU football: Ranking is just a good start

I think he put things in the right perspective. Stay humble and work hard and this season may have great potential

Please, just go...

"In simplistic terms, it means nothing."

Glad it's simplistic, that way you can understand it.

It means nothing if your goal is not to win it all, but like a NCAA seed in basketball, a higher ranking makes it easier if you plan on going the distance.

Bronco has always set high goals for his team, and does a good job keeping his team focused. Other coaches in the state don't seem to have the same goals, fail to communicate them to the young players, and lead their team into mediocrity.

No excuses for a team that cream UCLA with their injuries to go scoreless against UNLV, and lose to Air Force.

People continue to tear down Bronco, and tear down BYU, just to eat their words. Sad thing is, the same people refuse to admit they were wrong, and give BYU the respect they have earned.

BYU is undefeated in conference two years running, and their 10 game win streak is the longest in the country. If you feel the ranking means nothing, you are failing to give respect duely given by the coaches.

The funny thing, is you get paid for writing Moronic columns.

Mendenhall is spot on. I love his approach. Hope the players are ready to work hard and churn out some great results. I think they are.

Yea Yea, we all know the ranking doesn't mean anything. After all, Georgia will NOT end up on top. But, it does give the Cougs a chance to control their own destiny from the start. The ball's in their court now, no excuses.

it is very difficult for any div. 1 football team to go undefeated these days. that's why a playoff is so important and critical to success of college football. not sure when the collective fan pool will start walking away from the game b/c there is no fairness to the gamed system. i like Bronco's philosophy. he seems to have his finger on the pulse and spirit of what BYU is all about and how to extract the most out of his players. Should be a fun season to watch and cheer for.

they've been using the wrong word for the why, it should be "reek" instead of rank....come on we all know your going to stink it up, it's just a matter of time.

Here we go again. Another fall of "remember 1984". We beat a 6-6 big 10 team so we should be given the title. Big fish in little pond. Have the guts to play us again please. So we can shut you up again. Have fun playing in the vegas bowl again at best! At least you'll be done with your season before Christmas and can get your christmas shoping done, with out having to worry how you team is going to do in the bowl game. The Salt Lake Media will keep letting you know how great you are!
Fight ON!!!

Are you implying that Brad Rock wrote this article? If that's the case you might want to see who actually wrote the article: Dick Harmon. You know Harmon right? The guy who writes between 1-7 articles on BYU programs each week.

Not sure where that all came from...

I think the operative expression is not to think "we have arrived." If you ever "have arrived" it implies no place else to go.

When our northern brethern bag on Cougar Football, they always go back to 2004, as if they are still there. Or that there is no further to go.

We can (I think we can, I think we can...) have a perfect season, and still not arrive where we want to be. I remember those seasons of the past when someone ahead of us would lose and we still didn't gain ground. 1984 was both perfect AND lucky and we arrived. But we didn't stay long.

Here's to a coach and a team that knows where it is going and how to get there. Enjoy the journey!

What is needed is a play off.

"In simplistic terms, it means nothing."

Too late to be rational now, Dick.

The bar has been raised, the standard has been set, the Quest has been launched.

Bring on the national championship. Failure is not an option.

AS GOOD AS BYU MIGHT BE. I DON�T THINK THEY REOLIZE JUST HOW HARD OF A SCEDUAL THEY HAVE THIS YEAR. IF ANY COUGAR PLAYER IS READING THIS, I HOPE YOU WISE UP AND FORGET ALL THE HYPE. IT�S TIME TO PUT UP. STARTING WITH GAME ONE.

For those dim bulbs out there (SoCalFan): BYU didn't vote itself in as national champion. The national media and coaches thought they were the champion that year!!! You should learn the history of that season and also the preceding seasons that led to the top ranking. And just who do you think should have been the champion that year? And who did they lose to? Winning the national championship was a remarkable event considering the effort by Bryant Gumbel and others to discredit the Y. Sorry that the Y winning this championship still, after all these years, manages to hurt your fragile self-esteem.

First of all I'm sure Bronco is trying to keep them grounded and focused on winning one game at a time. Its just a matter if the players will listen to him or not which i think they will because they respcet him. Its will be VERY hard to go undefeated. I am not some cougar fan who thinks unrealisticly. It would be sweet if it happened but it isn't an auotomatic by any means.

And CLASSIC SO CAL fan. Some lame guy who claims we all talk about 1984. And so what we won the national championship. Half the championships have been won where teams just beat mediocre teams and half of the championships are controversial. Thats in the past and you sound worse by talking about how we shouldn't have won it than actual fans remembering it because thats what FANS are SUPPOSED to do.

Nor Cal forever!

Whats the record head to head? Enough said, keep letting the salt lake media think your good! NOT

Does anyone care what BYU's record is head to head vs. So CAL? The fact is that So. Cal's Sanchez is inexperienced and not tested as is almost all the offese. Your defense and secondary are good and USC has good talent, but as it is I'd pick BYU over So. Cal because they've played well together and have more momentum that So. Cal. Oh, and wasn't USC the second most hated team by ESPN this week. You are sure not helping your cause.

Get real. This is a time that lost to Tulsa not so long ago. Did that slip past Dick?

Preseason rankings mean a whole lot more than nothing. They are earned. Coach Mendenhall knows and acknowledges this when he points out the 10 years of conference titles that lead to '84. That earned respect translates to status in the polls that go a long way in determining what you'll be doing in late december or January.

So. Cal Fan--You were probably too young to remember, but in 1984 BYU should have played a better team than Michigan in a bowl game but the better teams refused to take the risk of getting beat.

The recognition of that by the sports community was part of the reason BYU was voted the national champion that year. That was also what got the plans for the BCS going.

If USC and the Pac10 are so tough, they should drop the exclusive BCS system they hide behind to give them funding, recruiting, and national championship advantages and come out in favor of an NCAA football tournament.

Anything less is s cop out...