Some rivalries hand out a bronze rack of ribs. Some hand out an old brass bell. This one hands out nothing at all, and it might still be the most personal game in the Big 12 that has no trophy attached to it.
On Halloween night, Arizona State walks into LaVell Edwards Stadium for the first time in five years, with two seasons of unfinished business riding along.
Two Schools, One Congregation
BYU and Arizona State have been playing since 1935, which makes this one of the oldest matchups either program has. They spent the 60s and 70s beating each other up for Western Athletic Conference titles, back when Frank Kush’s Sun Devils and LaVell Edwards’ Cougars traded the league championship year after year. Then ASU left for the Pacific 10 in 1978, BYU won eight straight WAC crowns in the vacuum, and the series went quiet for nearly half a century.
Here’s the part that surprises casual fans: Arizona State leads the all time series 21 to 8. Not close. The Sun Devils ripped off eight straight from 1966 to 1973 and have won 21 of 29 meetings overall.
Here’s the part that surprises Sun Devil fans: BYU has won three of the last four. The ledger is ancient history. The recent history belongs to the Cougars, and so does this building. Arizona State has not won a football game in Provo since 1994, a 36 to 15 win at a stadium that had not yet been named after LaVell Edwards. That was 32 years ago, and BYU has taken both Provo meetings since.
(Fair warning if you’re arguing about this at a tailgate: the 1935 opener is disputed. ASU’s own record book lists it as a 13 to 13 tie, which would give the Sun Devils 21 wins, 7 losses and a tie. Winsipedia’s game log scores it BYU 13 to 0 in Tempe, and StatMuse agrees. Pick your source and commit.)
But the numbers undersell what this game actually is. Arizona has one of the largest LDS populations in the country, concentrated heavily in the East Valley right on top of ASU’s campus. BYU’s Phoenix alumni chapter is one of its strongest anywhere. When these teams play in Tempe, the crowd splits close to even. Families split too, same last name, different colors. It plays like a rivalry inside one state, except it crosses two.
2024 Lit the Fire, Then Nobody Got a Rematch
November 23, 2024. No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State, winner takes the inside track to the Big 12 title game.
Final: Arizona State 28, BYU 23. Cam Skattebo carried it 28 times for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Sun Devil fans stormed the field and pulled down the goalposts with one second still on the clock, then had to clear out so BYU could throw a Hail Mary that didn’t land. ASU went on to win the Big 12 and reach the College Football Playoff. BYU went home.
Then the Big 12’s unbalanced schedule did what unbalanced schedules do: the two teams never saw each other in 2025. BYU went 12 and 2 and reached its first Big 12 Championship Game. ASU went 8 and 5. No rematch.
Two years of waiting lands on Halloween in Provo. That’s why this one already has juice in August.
Everything Is New in 2026
BYU brings back almost everything that mattered. Sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier returns after a freshman year nobody saw coming: 3,033 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, seven picks, plus 11 rushing scores, a school record. Running back LJ Martin, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, is back and picked as preseason Offensive Player of the Year again. The Cougars finished No. 11 in the final AP poll after a bowl win over Georgia Tech. The question marks: a rebuilt receiver room and a new defensive coordinator in Kelly Poppinga after Jay Hill left for Michigan.
Arizona State brings back almost nothing. Kenny Dillingham is entering year four with roughly a third of his rotation returning and 25 transfers arriving, 16 of them from power conferences. Sam Leavitt is at LSU. Skattebo is in the NFL. Jordyn Tyson is gone. The quarterback job is a fight among four candidates headlined by Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley, with Colorado transfer Omarion Miller giving whoever wins it a real number one target. ESPN’s metrics rank ASU’s 2026 slate as the toughest in the Big 12: Texas A&M on the road, Kansas in London, and this trip to Provo.
Veteran continuity versus total reconstruction. On a night when Provo is cold and loud and the Cougars have a playoff case to build.
Cast Your Vote
Cougars or Sun Devils? Does BYU finally even the ledger at home, or does ASU’s transfer class announce itself in the one building where nobody expects it?
Cast your vote on the BYU vs Arizona State prediction page. It’s worth 20 points. Drop a comment in the game chat while you’re there and back your squad out loud.
Want the numbers behind your gut call? Settle it with the School Rivalry tool and stack BYU and ASU side by side on NIL, fan engagement, rankings, and championships before you lock in.
Fuel Your Team
Votes are fun. Fuel is real. Back the athletes directly through verified NIL deals on the BYU Cougars school page or the Arizona State Sun Devils school page. Rally your side, climb the Fan Power Rankings, and put your fandom where it counts.
Start with the four names this game runs through. Bear Bachmeier and LJ Martin on the BYU side. Cutter Boley and Omarion Miller on the ASU side. Back one, climb the Royale board, and put your school in front. If your school wins the Royale, your fuel becomes a real NIL deal. If it doesn’t, you’re refunded in full.
One number worth chewing on before you pick: the Sun Devil newcomers currently carry higher NIL Index scores than the BYU stars, Miller at 36.3 and Boley at 35.5 against Bachmeier at 19.8 and Martin at 16.4. Transfer buzz is loud in August. Provo in October is a different measurement.
The series is 91 years old, there’s no trophy, and there’s a whole lot to settle. Where do you stand?
