FRISCO, Texas — Kalani Sitake took the stage at Big 12 media days Tuesday at The Star, the practice home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and shared his thoughts on the impending 24-team College Football Playoff decision and expectations for this year’s team.
Sitake opened by saying that he’s not in the business of campaigning for how many teams get into the playoffs and acknowledged the difficulty that the committee faces in choosing which teams get in. However, to him, the 24-team format makes the most sense.
“Twenty-four makes the most sense to me where everybody can feel comfortable being in a playoff,” he said. “The FCS has been doing it for a while now, and other divisions of football have been doing it, but I’m not the decision maker on that stuff.”
Sticking to his motto, Sitake said that his focus is on staying “humble and hungry” and letting the cards fall where they will when it comes to the CFP format decision.
“Our culture is built on love and learning, which means that those are things that you have to be working on,” he said. “You can’t sit there and rest on anything you’ve accomplished.”
After last season’s loss in the Big 12 championship game, the Cougars were left out of the at-large field for the CFP and accepted an invite to play Georgia Tech in the PopTarts Bowl, a game they won 25-21.
In the offseason, BYU didn’t lose any starters to the transfer portal and retained star players like the Big 12 offensive player of the year LJ Martin. The return of Martin at the running back position was arguably the Cougars’ best offseason victory.
“The great thing about LJ is that he is not a ‘me only’ guy,” said Sitake. “I think he’s ready to do whatever it takes for our program, our team, to be successful.”
Martin is 1,360 yards away from eclipsing the all-time rushing record at BYU. With the new 5-in-5 rule, Martin has two years of eligibility left.
Another key returner for the Cougars is quarterback Bear Bachmeier who led BYU to a 12-2 record as a true freshman. Bachmeier finished the season with over 3,033 yards passing, 527 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.
“He knows the offense a lot better than he did last year at this time. So the goal for us is to put him in a position where he can still progress and improve his game,” Sitake said.
Bachmeier’s focus as he moves into his sophomore year is developing both physical and mental changes, said Sitake, including his football IQ.
“I think the goal is just for him to manage his role as a quarterback and he doesn’t have to be the answer for everything,” Sitake said.
The Cougars are already projected to be a contender for the Big 12 title game for the upcoming season and for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
With coach Sitake at the helm, and Bachmeier and Martin in the backfield, the BYU Cougars have high expectations going into the 2026 season.