BYU vs. Utah 2026: No. 8 BYU at No. 6 Utah, the 10 a.m. Kickoff Fight, TV, Getting There From Provo and Everything at Stake

The Holy War is a top-10 game this year, and it kicks off at breakfast.

No. 8 BYU plays No. 6 Utah on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at 10 a.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, on ABC or ESPN. Utah is 7-0 for the first time since 2010 and the only unbeaten team left in the Big 12. BYU is 6-1 after its first loss of the season, in double overtime at UCF, and has won three straight in the rivalry. The winner gets the inside track in the Big 12 race, a big step toward the College Football Playoff, and a year of bragging rights from Logan to St. George.

And almost nobody in either fan base is happy about the kickoff time.

The 10 a.m. kickoff: why everyone's mad

Utah announced the time on Monday, Oct. 26: 10 a.m. Mountain, noon Eastern, ABC or ESPN. It will be the first day game between the rivals since 2010 and the first 10 a.m. kickoff in the series since 1996, the Deseret News reported.

The reaction was close to unanimous. National writers piled on. Awful Announcing's Drew Lerner wrote that there was "no reason" for the Big 12's biggest game of the year to start that early. OutKick argued ESPN could have put it in a late window after Kentucky-Tennessee. College football writer Chris Vannini posted, "That is just brutal for fans for a likely top-10 matchup." And fans on both sides, for maybe the first time all year, agreed on something:

• "The one game the Big 12 couldn't mess up, they messed up."
• "And just like that, BYU and Utah fans are united again."
• "Nobody wants this. Utes don't want it. Cougars don't want it. … We all want a 5:30 kickoff time. Shouldn't be that hard."
• "The Holy War needs to be Big 12 After Dark. Thats a slap in the face to have it at 10 AM local."

Those posts, from fans on X, were collected by Saturday Down South.

Why it happened. ESPN hasn't explained the choice publicly. What's clear is that Nov. 7 is stacked: Kentucky-Tennessee, Alabama-LSU, Georgia-Ole Miss and Miami-Notre Dame are all that day, and ESPN carries both SEC and Big 12 games. The Holy War ended up in the noon Eastern slot, a window the ESPN family usually leaves to FOX's Big Noon Kickoff. The schools don't get a vote.

There's a little irony in it, too. Utah athletic director Mark Harlan complained a week earlier about the opposite problem, an 8:15 p.m. local kickoff for the Houston game even with College GameDay on campus. "I was equally disappointed that we got another night game on ESPN," he said, adding that Utah had talked to ESPN and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark about spreading its games out. He got a day game, just not the one anybody wanted.

What a 10 a.m. kickoff means if you're driving up from Provo

Rice-Eccles is about 45 miles from Provo. On a normal Saturday that's under an hour. On a rivalry morning, with a full stadium's worth of people converging on the east bench, it isn't. If you want to be in your seat for kickoff, we'd plan to be parked or on a train by about 8:30. That means leaving Provo around 7:30.

The easy way: FrontRunner plus TRAX, free with your ticket. UTA lists every 2026 University of Utah on-campus sporting event as Ticket As Fare, so your game ticket, printed or on your phone, is your fare on FrontRunner, TRAX and the bus for that date. Each person needs their own ticket. Ride FrontRunner north from Provo Central or Orem Central, transfer to TRAX in Salt Lake, and ride the Red Line to Stadium Station or Fort Douglas Station; UTA's trip planner will show the best transfer for your train. Check the Saturday FrontRunner schedule before you go, since weekend trains run less often than weekday ones. Our FrontRunner from Provo guide has the stations and parking.

Tailgating will be a brunch affair. Plan accordingly.

Watching instead? Our guide to where to watch sports in Provo lists the places with the most screens. Expect them to open early that day, and call ahead.

Where the season stands

Utah (7-0, 4-0 Big 12, No. 6). First-year head coach Morgan Scalley has the Utes unbeaten. They beat No. 14 Houston 21-13 on Oct. 24 with the defense doing the heavy lifting: Houston scored 26 points under its season average, defensive tackle Jireh Moe had a fourth-quarter sack and recovered the fumble that decided it, and safety Jackson Bennee forced that fumble on a blitz. Quarterback Devon Dampier threw for 354 yards but also threw two interceptions, and Scalley wasn't hiding from it: "We can't turn the ball over like that." His message to his team about the hype: "Beware the soothing sounds of praise."

BYU (6-1, 3-1 Big 12, No. 8). The Cougars beat No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 on Oct. 17 with College GameDay in Provo, climbed to No. 2 themselves, then lost 39-31 in two overtimes at UCF on Oct. 24 after blocking a field goal to force overtime. Bear Bachmeier threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns in Orlando, and Legend Glasker, Kyler Kasper and Sione Moa all scored. Our UCF recap has the whole wild ending.

Both have a game first. On Halloween, BYU hosts Arizona State at 1:30 p.m. on FOX, and Utah plays at Cincinnati at 1:45 p.m. on ESPN. Cincinnati is 5-2 and just beat Texas Tech 37-24, so Utah has no easy week. If both teams take care of business, Nov. 7 is a top-10 game with the Big 12 lead on the line.

The storylines

BYU's streak. BYU has won three straight: 26-17 in Provo in 2021, which ended Utah's nine-game unbeaten run; 22-21 at Rice-Eccles in 2024; and 24-21 in Provo last October, when Bachmeier ran for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. It's BYU's first three-game streak in the series since 1989 to 1992.

The last time BYU won in Salt Lake. The 2024 game ended with a holding call on fourth down, a 44-yard Will Ferrin field goal with three seconds left, and Utah's athletic director saying, "This game absolutely was stolen from us." The Big 12 fined him $40,000. That same night, BYU cheer coach Jocelyn Allan said a water bottle thrown from the south end zone seats knocked her unconscious. Expect to hear about all of it again this week.

The new coach. Scalley, Kyle Whittingham's longtime defensive coordinator, took over in December 2025. In July, he and Kalani Sitake stood side by side and talked about respect. "I think the Utah-BYU rivalry is one of the best in the country," Scalley said, and "it's definitely mutual respect." Sitake: "We've always respected and loved our rivals." Scalley also knows the other side of it. As a Ute player in 2004, he appeared in a video saying, "You're born either a Ute fan or a BYU fan."

Pat McAfee. In October, ESPN's McAfee called Provo "a heavenly place" after College GameDay came to BYU, then said of the University of Utah, after its official Instagram account posted a video mocking him the night before GameDay in Salt Lake, "I hate this place." Utah fans have not forgotten. Neither have BYU fans. Our opinion column has every word.

A new conduct rule. On Oct. 28 the Big 12 fined UCF $100,000 over an anti-Latter-day Saint chant at the BYU game and created a conference-wide rule: a second discriminatory incident at the same game now brings a 15-yard penalty against the home team and up to a $500,000 fine. The Holy War will be BYU's first road game under it. Our story on the UCF fine has the details.

The series record, and why it depends on who you ask

Utah's official count is 62-37-4 in its favor and calls this the 104th meeting, the third since both schools joined the Big 12. BYU's official records start in 1922, when its program came back after about two decades without football, and counting from there it's 59-34-4 Utah. Our Holy War explainer walks through why, plus the history of the name and a few unwritten rules for newcomers.

Whatever number you use, the recent trend is BYU's, the record this season is Utah's, and the kickoff time belongs to ESPN.

The rest of the rivalry this week

The football game isn't the only BYU-Utah meeting this fall. Our Holy War explainer lists every rivalry game left in 2026, including the volleyball and soccer matchups in Provo on Oct. 30.

Related on Provo.com

• BYU football 2026 season guide
• BYU vs. Arizona State: Halloween game-day guide
• UCF 39, BYU 31: the recap
• BYU 28, Notre Dame 24