Wyoming
Wyoming Coach Knows Significance Of Hosting BYU In Laramie
LAS VEGAS — Two years ago, former Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl and then defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel were inside the visitor locker room at the home of BYU football, LaVell Edwards Stadium.
They were in Provo for the first matchup in a two-game series between the former conference rivals. The next meeting in the series was set for Laramie in 2024.
BYU won that meeting two years ago against the Pokes, 38-24.
BYU at Wyoming
📅: September 14, 2024
⏰: 7 p.m.
📺: CBS Sports Network
📻: @kslnewsradio #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/EdUzckOLAV— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) May 30, 2024
In 2022, BYU was in its final year as an Independent while gearing up to join the Big 12 Conference.
BYU will play at Wyoming for the first time since 2009
So, from the Wyoming side, there wasn’t much faith that BYU would return to Laramie, a place where the legendary LaVell Edwards once said, “I’d rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie.”
To the surprise of many, BYU will travel to War Memorial Stadium in Laramie on September 14 for a 7 p.m. kickoff on CBS Sports Network and KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM). It will be the 80th meeting between the two programs.
BYU leads the series 46-30-3.
“Coach Bohl told me in the locker room there in 2022 that he didn’t think they would come back, that the return game would happen,” said first-year Wyoming head Jay Sawvel at Mountain West Media Days. “So obviously, it’s happening, and I don’t know whether [canceling the 2024 game] was discussed or not.”
Tom Holmoe stayed committed to playing in Laramie
While the Wyoming coaches had doubts about a return visit from their old rival, BYU AD Tom Holmoe doubled down on visiting Laramie in 2024 during the game two years ago.
“Yes, we are,” Holmoe said on the BYU Sports Network in 2022 when asked if BYU would make a return trip to Wyoming. “I like the interregional rivalry, old conference foes, and it’s just a game that I think we should be playing.”
The commitment to restoring an old rivalry adds another tough test for a BYU program looking to return to the postseason after an underwhelming 5-7 record in their first year as a power conference team.
BYU’s trip to Wyoming is one week after a road game at SMU in Dallas. After the Wyoming game, BYU jumps into a nine-game Big 12 schedule in what Brett Yormark calls the “Deepest Conference in America.”
2024 #BYU Football Schedule #BYUFootball #GoCougs #Big12 pic.twitter.com/gS3ymhypgZ
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 30, 2024
Last season, Wyoming was a 9-4 team that included a double overtime win over Texas Tech from the Big 12.
Laramie is always a tricky spot for any team. But for BYU? The intensity
Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel: “It’s a big deal”
Jay Sawvel, who was promoted to Wyoming’s head coach chair after Craig Bohl announced his retirement, knows what hosting BYU means for Wyoming.
“There are probably books that could be written about that. It’s a big deal,” Sawvel said on BYU-Wyoming. “It’s not lost on me as the head coach and going through all the different parts of the state, how big of a game that is for the Wyoming fan base. Maybe in part because [BYU] is not on any future schedule either. There’s a generation of Wyoming fans that this would be the last time they’ll ever see BYU in our stadium.”
The last time BYU traveled to Laramie was in 2009, when the two were in the Mountain West Conference together. BYU is on a nine-game winning streak against Wyoming. The last two wins were under the direction of head coach Kalani Sitake (2022, 2016 Poinsettia Bowl).
“They’ve got a great program, and Coach Sitake does a great job. It’ll be a big challenge,” said Sawvel.
There are no future meetings scheduled between the schools.
“Things are scheduled 10-12 years out. They’re not on anything,” said Sawvel. “So all of a sudden, you start looking at it, you could be looking at 2040 before they ever come back. I hope I’m alive by 2040. So, this is a big deal. It’s a big deal to the fans. It’s an old rivalry. There’s a lot of tradition to that. Our responsibility is to play for Wyoming that night.”
2024 BYU Football Schedule
August 31 – Southern Illinois
September 6 – at SMU
September 14 – at Wyoming
September 21 – Kansas State
September 28 – at Baylor
October 12 – Arizona
October 18 – Oklahoma State
October 26 – at UCF
November 9 – at Utah
November 16 – Kansas
November 23 – at Arizona State
November 30 – Houston
2024 Wyoming Football Schedule
August 31 – at Arizona State
September 7 – Idaho
September 14 – BYU
September 21 – at North Texas
September 28 – Air Force
October 12 – San Diego State
October 19 – at San Jose State
October 26 – Utah State
November 2 – at New Mexico
November 16 – at Colorado State
November 23 – Boise State
November 30 – at Washington State
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
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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.”
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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
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