Wyoming
Playing back-to-back nonconference road football games isn't optimal for the BYU Cougars, but AD Tom Holmoe says it is the lesser of two evils
Just before BYU beat Wyoming 38-24 in Provo on Sept. 24, 2022, BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe told the BYU Sports Radio Network that the Cougars fully intended to return the game in Laramie in 2024.
“It is a good game. … It is a game we should be playing,” Holmoe said at the time.
After BYU beat its former conference rival for the ninth straight time, and perhaps not knowing what Holmoe had promised four hours before that, then-Wyoming coach Craig Bohl said he believed BYU would buy its way out of the agreement.
That seemed odd, because Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman had told the Casper Star-Tribune earlier that week that he fully expected BYU to make the trip, despite the fact that the Cougars were joining the Big 12 in 2023 and were in the process of trimming their 2024 non-conference schedule from 12 games to three.
Turns out, Holmoe and Burman were right.
Wyoming (0-2) will host BYU (2-0) at 7 p.m. MDT Saturday night in Laramie, the Cougars’ first visit back to the high plains 7,220 feet above sea level and 30,000-seat War Memorial Stadium since 2009. Quarterback Max Hall led the Cougars to a 52-0 win that day, throwing for 312 yards and four touchdowns in just over two quarters.
It looks like a trap game if there ever was one, considering that Wyoming is 0-2 and coming off a 17-13 home loss to FCS Idaho and BYU is 2-0 and coming off an 18-15 road win at the ACC’s SMU. But BYU coach Kalani Sitake would have none of that talk earlier this summer.
“Wyoming is always good, and really physical, especially up there,” he said.
The Cougars return to LaVell Edwards Stadium the following week, hosting a Kansas State team expected to contend for the Big 12 title, in BYU’s conference opener. Wyoming is at North Texas on Sept. 21.
You will also hear a lot this week about how much this game means to the Cowboys and their fans, who have seen a few memorable wins over the hated Cougars the past 50 years, but also a lot of lopsided losses. BYU has won 12 of the last 13 and 18 of the last 20 matchups.
The last time Wyoming beat BYU in Laramie, 13-10 on Oct.18, 2003, Wyoming fans tore down the goalposts and paraded them through town, despite the fact that both teams had losing records.
So why is BYU, which so little to gain and so much to lose, even playing this game?
At the Big 12 football media days in July in Las Vegas, Holmoe told the Deseret News that “it is kind of the lesser of two evils.” He also said BYU was doing it “out of principle,” a reference to his 2022 promise, his friendship with Burman, and a thawed, warmer relationship with the neighboring state school after a lot of discontent stemming from the “Black 14″ incident in 1969.
“So when you have 12 independent games, and then you go into a league, you have to take nine of them, and put them out, to make room for nine conference games,” Holmoe said. “You just don’t throw them in the trash. You have contracts with those teams that you have to work through.”
Holmoe said he didn’t want to play back-to-back nonconference road games, but a Big 12 requirement that makes its teams play at least one nonconference Power Four foe per season meant that the series with SMU (signed in October of 2023) had to stay.
Then it was a question of whether to keep the Wyoming game, or buy it out for probably around $1 million and try to find a home game against an FBS team on short notice. He contacted his friend and college football scheduling guru Dave Brown of Gridiron to see if there were any options.
There were for Week 2 — SMU proved to be the best choice there, as the Mustangs were moving to the P4′s ACC — but nothing great for Week 3.
“It was in (2021) when we first knew we were going to the Big 12. And we told Dave (Brown) we were going to need a couple of games in 2024. Most people think there are (a lot) of games, but there aren’t,” Holmoe said. “At the time, we had three choices for each one of those slots, because you are not talking about the whole season; You are talking about Week 3, and Week 2.”
Also in July, Holmoe said the Cougars’ P4 nonconference opponent in 2025 would be announced “pretty soon,” but as of early September that hadn’t happened. BYU opens at home against FCS Southern Utah in 2025 and needs a Week 2 game against a P4 opponent before traveling to East Carolina in Week 3.
“Only two years to do college football scheduling is hard,” Holmoe said. “Take a team from the SEC, and look at their 2032 nonconference schedule, and it will be filled. So when you start thinking you can do it in two years, on that specific day, the choices are slim.”
So, bring on the Cowboys.
“We will just keep making statements as we go along,” Sitake told BYUtv after the SMU game. “We are ready for statement No. 3 to come next week and we are going to Laramie and playing a tough Wyoming team … in a hostile environment. It is a good experience for our guys, so we are looking forward to that game.”
Cougars on the air
BYU (2-0, 0-0) at Wyoming (0-2 ,0-0)
Saturday, 7 p.m. MDT
At War Memorial Stadium (capacity: 29,811)
Laramie, Wyoming
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
-
New Jersey5 minutes agoBest burgers in New Jersey? 15 spots for classic and inventive burgers
-
New Mexico11 minutes agoFind out how New Mexico hospitals rank for patient safety
-
North Carolina17 minutes agoNorth Carolina couple accused of causing vulture invasion sued by furious town: ‘Not good neighbors’
-
North Dakota23 minutes agoDust storms rage in North Dakota and South Dakota
-
Ohio29 minutes agoManufacturing history unfolds at North Central Ohio Industrial Museum
-
Oklahoma35 minutes agoOklahoma becomes latest state to sue Roblox over child safety concerns
-
Oregon41 minutes agoOregon man shot at In-N-Out drive-thru drove family to safety with bullet lodged in head
-
Pennsylvania47 minutes agoAn Outpouring of Frustration Over Pennsylvania’s Rapid Data Center Growth – Inside Climate News