Division Mountain Division AP No. 5 Head coach LaVell Edwards | Coaches No. 5 1996 record 14–1 (8–0 WAC) | |
Conference Western Athletic Conference | ||
The 1996 Brigham Young Cougars football team represented the Brigham Young University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. BYU was able to play 15 games because of NCAA rules that are no longer in place. Firstly, a team was able to play a designated "kickoff" opening game and not have it count against the allowed game total, then they played at Hawaii which didn't count against the allowed total. That allowed BYU to play 13 regular season games. They then played a conference championship game and a bowl game in the Cotton Bowl Classic bringing the total to 15 games.
During the 2002 and 2003 seasons teams were allowed to schedule 12 games as well as a week one game. As a result, the 2003 Kansas State Wildcats became only the second team to play a 15-game season with an 11-4 record.
The kickoff game exemption was eliminated in 2005, but the Hawaii exemption remains in place.
Beginning in 2014 it will again be possible for teams to play a 15-game schedule without facing Hawaii because of the 4 team playoff system.