#7 - BYU is in a great position to get a solid win and possibly win big, at least on paper (see common opponent MOV, offensive/defensive stats, W-L, etc.)

#6 - BYU's defense is as good as I've seen in probably over 20 years and defense wins championships and also matters a lot in rivalry games when nerves tend to be high.

#5 - Turnover margin is kind of a big deal in these rivalry games and BYU has been uncharacteristically exceptional in this space this season (no reason to assume Saturday will be different).

#4 - Very good balance on Offense and Defense with a lot of players contributing...Utah cannot key in on one or two players on either side of the ball.

#3 - The players on this team have fairly little experience with the rivalry game and for most of them that experience only includes a win. I don't think our current players will be nearly as nervous as teams in the past that were fighting a "streak" and battling a Utah team that was rubbing the P12 in our noses every chance they could. The mental edge that I think has gotten Utah wins in a handful of games they probably should have lost has been dramatically diminished.

#2 - The NIL era has evened the playing field in college sports in a lot of ways, particularly for programs like BYU whose boosters rarely, if ever, paid the players under the table in contrast to blue-blood P5 programs where that's been happening extensively for decades. Now that BYU's boosters can go through the front door with NIL, there's no reason BYU cannot become a blue-blood sports program and we're seeing that happen right now.

#1 - Even if KW puts out the dumpster fire for one game and somehow eeks out a win, which I acknowledge as a distinct possibility for any KW coached team no matter how down they are, BYU will still have the inside lane to the CCG and will still control its own destiny all the way through a National Championship as long as we keep winning.

The possibility of a one-loss (or even two loss) national championship has never been a thing for BYU. I honestly think it takes a lot of the pressure off when BYU can be really good and doesn't have to be perfect. I think being able to play loose and have fun each game is why our team has not lost and this game should be no different (or at least not different enough to tip the scales in Utah's favor).