Of course it is impossible to compare the entire lineup, but two games stand out.

TCU and Oklahoma, because they are apples to apples.

TCU 44-11 (BYU), 34-17 (SMU)
Oklahoma 31-24 (BYU), 28 - 11 (SMU)

Lots of nuance there, but on balance I'd call it a wash. A wash. Compared to the 2023 BYU team.

The ONE thing we can be sure of so far is that this year's team is better than last year's team. So the odds makers have to be betting on two ideas:

1. BYU did not improve significantly since 2023
2. SMU did improve over 2023.

IMO Vegas has no evidence in the three played games of 2024 for betting this way. So if in fact SMU does win the game, I'm curious to know how bettors managed to get there.

Meanwhile, watching the replays of SMU's beat-down on Houston Christian, I'm pretty comfortable saying that SMU still has a lot of room for improvement. I actually think BYU wins this one handily. BYU 31 SMU 20