Football The Brigham Young University Cougars football program competes at the
NCAA Division I FBS (formerly I-A) level. Coached by
Kalani Sitake, the team plays at
LaVell Edwards Stadium. In 1984, the undefeated Cougars were voted the
consensus national champion BYU is known as a "quarterback factory" for producing several successful quarterbacks, including 1990
Heisman Trophy winner
Ty Detmer. Alumni who have played in the
NFL include
Jim McMahon,
Steve Young,
Gifford Nielsen,
Bart Oates,
Chad Lewis,
Vai Sikahema,
Todd Christensen,
John Beck, and
Zach Wilson.
Men's basketball , home to the Cougars' men's and women's basketball teams The BYU men's basketball team is ranked among top 25 NCAA programs for all-time total victories. As of 2006, BYU had 82 winning seasons, 26 conference titles, 21 NCAA tournament invites, 10 NIT invites, and two NIT titles (1951 and 1966). In 2005, the program was ranked 36th in Street & Smiths "100 greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time", based on NCAA tournament success, NIT success, national championships, conference regular-season and tournament titles, all-time win–loss percentage, graduation percentage, NCAA infractions, NBA first round draft picks, and mascot ferocity. In the 2006–07 season, the Cougars became nationally ranked for the first time since 1994 and won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship outright. The team's current head coach is
Kevin Young, who was hired in 2024.
Women's basketball The BYU women's basketball team represents the university in the Big 12 Conference and after the retirement of 21 year coach
Jeff Judkins is now coached by Amber Whiting. The Cougars play their home games in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. The team has made eight NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 30 years and has frequently been at the top of its conference.
Men's cross country Cross country originated at BYU as an informal competition, technically classified as a long distance running event for the track and field team.
Clarence Robison, an experienced collegiate and Olympic long distance runner, became the track and field coach in 1950. Robison's experience and interest in long distance running led to the growing popularity of cross country both in track and field and as its own sport. Competitions in cross country were often held jointly with the track and field team. In 1962, Sherald James was added on the track and field coaching staff with his primary responsibility being the cross country team. James helped cultivate the popularity of the program and cross country as an event in track and field. In 2018, BYU finished second nationally. In 2019, BYU won its first
national championship.
Women's cross country In 1973, BYU joined other universities to form the Intermountain Athletic Conference which allowed BYU's female athletes to compete in sports including cross country. In 1982, BYU joined the High Country Athletic Conference. The women's cross country team won championships in 1982 and 1983. Due to his success leading the team to four victories, Shane was named NCAA coach of the year. Under the coaching of Diljeet Taylor, the BYU women's cross-country team has won 2 more national championships, coming in 2021 and 2024. In 2019, the BYU women's team finished in second place at the
NCAA national championship. The Cougars' top three runners all had top 10 finishes as Courtney Wayment, Erika Birk, and Whittni Orton finished 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively.
Men's golf BYU became involved in college golf slowly. Coach Fred Dixon led the golf team to a 1956 conference victory, but for most of the 1950s, golfers finished in third and fourth place. After Dave Crowton (previous assistant football coach and head baseball coach at BYU) became the coach of the golf team, the team placed fifth in 1960 and second in 1961. The women's golf team has won three West Coast Conference Championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The team is currently coached by Carrie Roberts, who has been the head coach since 2010. Carrie also played golf for BYU as a student between 1998 and 2002.
Gymnastics Prior to 1958, gymnastics existed at BYU as an unsponsored sport, winning league victories as early as 1911. As of 2019, there is only a female gymnastics team at BYU. The BYU gymnastics team has won five conference championships , two in the West Coast Conference and threw in the Mountain West Conference. In 2015,
Guard Young (son of Wayne Young) and former All-American on the BYU gymnastics team, was named the head coach of the BYU gymnastics team. Before joining the Big 12 Conference in 2023, the gymnastics program was a member of the
Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference from 2013-2023.
Baseball The BYU baseball team played its first game in 1895 and currently plays in the
Larry H. Miller Field.
Softball The BYU softball team rejoined the bulk of the school's teams in the WCC in July 2013, when the conference began sponsoring softball once
Pacific rejoined after an absence of more than 40 years. BYU softball had returned to the
Western Athletic Conference as part of the school's 2011 conference change, but played only one season in the WAC, moving to the
Pacific Coast Softball Conference after the 2012 season and playing there for what proved to be the PCSC's final season in 2013.
Women's soccer Since joining the NCAA in 1995, the women's soccer team has appeared in the NCAA tournament 24 times, reaching as far as the Elite Eight in 2003, 2012, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Swimming Even though BYU did not have its own swimming pool in the 1920s, the university swimming team was successful. A member of the team in 1928 and 1928 Bud Shields held the American record for the 220-yard and 440-year freestyle. Shields was recognized as the high point man at two national swimming meets in 1928 and 1929. The swimming program was cancelled in 1930 after the
Provo High School swimming pool was boarded up, because it was the only available swimming pool in the area. Walter Cryer became the head coach and revived the swimming team in 1964. Until the Richards Building was completed in 1965, Cryer coached four swimmers at Park Ro She Swimming Pool in
Springville. The Richards Building contained two swimming pools and one diving pool. The team was successful during its first six years of reinstatement.
Track and field The track and field team at BYU began in 1899. The first annual BYU Invitational Track Meet was in 1911. The track teams were successful in the 1930s; they won conference championships in 1935 and 1936. In 1970, Ralph Mann set a world record in the 440 high hurdle in Des Moines with a time of 48.8 seconds, winning him a second NCAA title.
Miles Batty won the indoor national championship in the mile in 2011, then anchored the BYU distance medley relay team for another gold medal. In 2012, at the
Millrose Games, he set a new collegiate record for the indoor mile at 3:54.54. In March 2011, BYU's
Leif Arrhenius won the shot put competition in the NCAA track and field national championships and men's distance medley relay team also won the national title in their event.
Men's volleyball BYU's men's volleyball has won three
NCAA national championships in (1999, 2001, and 2004) and has been the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion ten times (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021).
Women's volleyball The women's volleyball team is also consistently nationally ranked, reaching the National Championship game of the 2014 NCAA tournament. ==NCAA Division I: NACDA Learfield Director's Cup==