Kalani Sitake Wants More Resources at BYU — A Win Over Notre Dame Could Strengthen His Case

The No. 8 BYU Cougars head into Saturday’s matchup with No. 2 Notre Dame wanting to prove they belong in the College Football Playoff race. After falling short in each of the last two seasons, the golden opportunity has arrived for Kalani Sitake and his team. These teams were set to play each other in last year's Pop-Tarts Bowl before Notre Dame chose to end this season abruptly with a two-loss campaign.

BYU has recently started pouring money into the football program, which has been a frontrunner in the Big 12 since joining the conference prior to the 2023 season. There's no bigger stage to showcase the program. This will be the first top-10-ranked matchup in the history of LaVell Edwards Stadium. Notre Dame is ranked No. 2 in the current AP Top 25 poll, and BYU is ranked No. 8.

ESPN’s College GameDay is coming to BYU’s campus for the first time since 2009. The hype around Provo is real and this could be a point where BYU gains serious national credibility.

The opportunity in itself is huge. Sitake has been vocal about the football program being given more resources to compete. Being able to secure financial support for the Cougars’ efforts has been a struggle. But BYU has picked up the pace as of late.

BYU Athletics and Utah investment firm, PV3 Enterprises, announced a long-term partnership that includes the largest financial commitment in the history of the Cougars’ athletic program. This includes the naming rights to the football surface in LaVell Edwards Stadium. It's the start of better things to come in Provo.

BYU can make a statement with a win on Saturday. It would validate the program’s progress over the past two-plus seasons. Sitake took over at his alma mater 11 years ago. This is a process that is personal for him. He was offered the job at Penn State during the offseason, but returned to Provo with demands for a better landscape.

Since 2020, the Cougars have recorded four double-digit-win seasons and are tied for the sixth-most wins (62) in college football over that time, trailing only Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Oregon, according to Front Office Sports. BYU is tied with Michigan, which forced Sitake to be vocal about the resource gap between BYU and its peers in the win column.

“For me, it’s exciting to see how we match up,” Sitake said about facing Notre Dame. “I know a lot of people are wondering how the matchup is going to go, and I feel good about our chances. We’re a different program than we were back then, and so are they. So now we can kind of match up and play this game.

“And if they want to keep playing this game, I would love to keep doing it as much as possible.”

According to The Athletic’s college football budget estimate report, BYU’s biggest on-field competitor in the Big 12 is Texas Tech, whose $38 million to $42 million projection is in the top 10 nationally.

BYU can stand out above the rest. All they have to do is take care of business against Notre Dame. The Cougars host the Irish on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.