Top 5 wins of all time

Does this win make the list?



Miracle Bowl

BYU-UM for the national championship

#3 Oklahoma win.

Texas where Taysum Leaps over the longhorns

?



Maybe top 5. Definitely top 10.

In BYU history? Maybe. Depends on what happens with Wisc in the remainder of the year.

I put this one up there with the Oklahoma win. As far as best teams BYU has beaten in history, that depends on what they do from here out but if they are as good as I think they are, this one will be second to the Miami win, just ahead of the Kansas State team BYU beat in 96

frdbtr wrote:

I put this one up there with the Oklahoma win. As far as best teams BYU has beaten in history, that depends on what they do from here out but if they are as good as I think they are, this one will be second to the Miami win, just ahead of the Kansas State team BYU beat in 96

Yes, I was thinking of the Miami win. I think they were #1 or 2 but it was on our field. This game should be in the top 10 at least. On another thread someone said we should cheer for Wisconsin. I will, I was in Wisconsin Rapids on my mission.

nuk13 wrote:

I put this one up there with the Oklahoma win. As far as best teams BYU has beaten in history, that depends on what they do from here out but if they are as good as I think they are, this one will be second to the Miami win, just ahead of the Kansas State team BYU beat in 96

Yes, I was thinking of the Miami win. I think they were #1 or 2 but it was on our field. This game should be in the top 10 at least. On another thread someone said we should cheer for Wisconsin. I will, I was in Wisconsin Rapids on my mission.

they were ranked #1 and were the defending NC's and they won the NC the year after. They were a really good team and BYU beat them straight up.

It is right up there.Top 10 in my opinion.

What about the 1996 game against Texas A&M?

frdbtr wrote:

I put this one up there with the Oklahoma win. As far as best teams BYU has beaten in history, that depends on what they do from here out but if they are as good as I think they are, this one will be second to the Miami win, just ahead of the Kansas State team BYU beat in 96

I think when all is said and done, this one will rate higher than OK. First, this game was AT WI. OK was at a neutral siite. My memory is there were a lot of OK fans there, yet still....winning at WI with their non conference record etc is saying something. Second, time will tell but I think WI is legit and we all know that OK proved not to be which sort of took some of the luster out of the win. So the WI win will stand up. Anyways, just musings. Such a great win!

Historically:

1. 1984 National Championship game

2. Miracle Bowl

3. 1996 Cotton Bowl

4. 1942 BYU/Utah (BYU's first win over Utah)

5. BYU beats Miami and sets up Ty's Heisman run

6. BYU beats Pittsburgh in first ESPN college football telecast



I would say that the win over Wisconsin is certainly top 15 and perhaps even top 10 because of last year. However, taken as a whole, the win can be lumped with other regular season wins over Power 5 teams.

Could have been up there with Pitt 1984 if they had beaten Cal.

This is a fun thought exercise.



In terms of opponent hype going into the game and the actual quality of the opponent I would choose:



1. Miami 1990

2. SMU 1980

3. Kansas St. 1997 Cotton Bowl

4. Arizona St. 1997

5. TCU 2006



If Wisconsin wins 10+ games I would put it at #2. If Wisconsin wins 9 games it probably drops to #5. If Wisconsin wins 8 games I would put it at #6 just ahead of our Oklahoma game.

My ranking of all-time is pretty much the same group as everyone else. Really there are two (2) categories as I see it.



Top wins vs best opponents (who was the best team we defeated, despite rankings):

1. 1990 vs Miami

2. 2018 vs Wisconsin

3. 1980 Miracle Bowl vs. SMU

4. 1997 Cotton Bowl vs Kansas St.

5. 2009 vs Oklahoma



Realistically, it's hard to say which teams we beat were the best teams as there are a lot that could be in the debate for #5 (see link to article at end of this post)



Top 5 best wins (this has no direct correlation on whether the opponent was as good as touted, but the wins had the greatest effect on the BYU football program:



1. 1984 vs. Pittsburgh (It didn't end up mattering that Pitt didn't turn out to be worthy of a #3 ranking. The win acted upon us as though they were and directly affected our run to the national championship.

2. 1984 vs. Michigan (we don't win, we have no claim to a national championship)

3. 1990 vs. Miami (set Ty Detmer up for his Heisman run)

4. 1980 vs. SMU (Miracle Bowl and BYU's first bowl win)

5. 1979 vs. Texas A&M (1st signature win for LaVell Edwards on a national scope)



Once again, beginning at #5, there are so many games that could be argued as in that range. In an article in July 2016 for KSL, Mitch Harper gave his opinion on the top 50.

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=40661381&nid=272