1. BYU beat up on Wyoming A LOT in the WAC and MWC years. Wyoming had some good teams here and there (a little more on that below), but BYU won the majority of matchups and most weren’t close. Getting beat like that repeatedly doesn’t foster good feelings, and when you can get a win, you tend to thump your chest a lot. Lavell made a comment after losing in Laramie once when the Wyoming fans were celebrating that was something along the lines of “I’d rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie” which only enhanced Wyoming’s little brother syndrome.  When losing like that is generational over like 40 years, the hate becomes almost biological. If your grandpa and dad are Wyoming fans that hate BYU, chances are you will too and will also teach your children to hate (want to note here that I hate Utah in much the same way so I don’t really have a leg to stand on if you think this is preachy).

2. The Black 14. Most people don’t really know about this controversy, and Wyoming made amends in 2019 on the 50th Anniversary (believe BYU also did something recently to the extent that amends from BYU needed to be made). But in 1968-69 Wyoming had an absolutely stacked team. They thrashed BYU in 68 in Provo, but some of the Wyoming players claimed after the game that BYU players had made racial taunts and slurs throughout (would not surprise me if that was true). But this, combined with the LDS Church practice at the time of denying black men the Priesthood, caused the Black Students Association at Wyoming to urge the players to take some kind of a stand for the 69 game. 14 black players went to Wyoming Head Coach Eaton’s office in 1969 ahead of the BYU game (they were 6-0 at the time) and requested to wear black armbands as a sign of protest against BYU at the home game in Laramie. Coach Eaton dismissed them from the team for this request. They thrashed BYU by like 30+ if I remember correctly but ended the season on a multi game losing skid mired in the controversy, and the next season won only one game I think, a really disappointing result for such a promising roster (I think some of the dismissed players went on to be first three round draft picks). As I understand it Eaton was not a member of the church nor was he affiliated in BYU in any way. But BYU was somewhat associated with this because the protest started from church practice and alleged BYU player conduct, and so Wyoming fans kind of blamed BYU for these results. The connection is irrational, as Wyoming was responsible for blowing up its own roster and ruining their season, but people tend to look for an outlet for blame in situations like that and BYU was a good candidate. It was probably also hard for the Wyoming fans to watch their own program fall into mediocrity after that while BYU ascended to become the regional premier program soon after.

3. The Church. Like most hatred for BYU, it’s hate for the Church guised under hate for BYU. Wyoming as a state has an interesting religious dynamic where there are large pockets of LDS people in specific places but also lots of areas with little to no Church members. The Church itself is a pretty controversial organization and lots of people living close to it while not being a member have strong opinions about it, and in Wyoming, those folks tend to attend Wyoming while the LDS kids tend to go to BYU. I’m sure there are guys on this board who grew up or live in Wyoming that know exactly what I am talking about.