BYU voted most deserving of inclusion in Power 5 conference

PROVO, Utah — BYU was voted as the non-Power 5 school most worthy to be in a Power 5 conference in ESPN's weekly college football poll of the FBS head coaches.

This week's poll, released Saturday, asked FBS head coaches which school currently not in a Power 5 conference deserves to be in a Power 5 conference. BYU topped the poll with 24 percent of the votes, followed by East Carolina at 21 percent and Boise State at 19 percent.

BYU was an even stronger choice among coaches from existing Power 5 schools. The Cougars nearly doubled the next closest team in the voting by Power 5 schools, receiving 30 percent of the votes to Boise State's 16 percent. East Carolina was next at 11 percent.

Lending support to results of this week's poll, BYU boasts a football resume unmatched by most FBS programs, including many teams from Power 5 conferences.

The Cougars rank No. 5 in total victories over the past 40 years with 357 wins since 1974, trailing only Nebraska (393), Oklahoma (373), Ohio State (365) and Florida State (359). BYU is the only non-Power 5 program in that timeframe to win a national championship. BYU is also one of six programs to boast winners of the Heisman Trophy, Outland Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award and Doak Walker Award, joining Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, Iowa and Boston College.

Since Bronco Mendenhall became the head coach at BYU in 2005, the Cougars have achieved an 86-36 record, which ranks No. 12 nationally in victories. BYU is 6-3 in bowl games under Mendenhall as one of only 12 programs to earn a bowl bid each of the past nine seasons. Only Florida State (7) has won more bowl games than the Cougars since 2005.

The Cougars have won a game against a Power 5 opponent each of the past nine seasons, the longest streak among non-Power 5 designated schools. Off the field, BYU is tied for fifth for the most Academic All-America citations in that nine-year span and tops all FBS programs for the most players selected (35) to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society (starter/significant contributor finishing career with 3.2 GPA or better) since the program began in 2007.

Click here to see results and read more about on this week's ESPN college football poll of FBS head coaches.