BYU Isn't Hiding From Big 12 Title Talk — and LJ Martin Is the Reason Why

BYU walked into Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas on July 7, 2026 and did not pretend the expectations weren't real. A program in only its fourth year in the league took center stage on day one, and its players talked openly about winning the conference — not making up numbers, but building on a 2025 season that ended a game short of the ceiling.

The headline name is BYU football running back LJ Martin, who was named the Big 12's preseason Offensive Player of the Year. It is a repeat: Martin won the same award for the 2025 season after rushing for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns while carrying the Cougars to a 12-2 record and their first Big 12 Championship game appearance in the program's three years in the conference.

Six Cougars on the preseason all-conference team

Martin was not alone. BYU placed six players on the 2026 preseason All-Big 12 team, one of the largest contingents in the league. Alongside Martin, the group includes Bear Bachmeier — the reigning Big 12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year — first-team center Bruce Mitchell, and a trio of senior defenders in linebacker Isaiah Glasker, cornerback Evan Johnson, and defensive lineman Keanu Tanuvasa.

That mix matters. A preseason list heavy on returning production and anchored by a repeat Offensive Player of the Year is the difference between a team hoping to be good and a team the rest of the conference is already planning around.

The balance across the roster is the part that should worry opponents. Martin and Bachmeier headline the offense, Mitchell anchors the line in front of them, and the three senior defenders — Glasker at linebacker, Johnson at corner, Tanuvasa on the defensive line — mean the honors are not concentrated on one side of the ball. Preseason teams are projections, not results, but a program that lands six of them has convinced the league's coaches and media that its best players are back and its two-deep is real.

For a school in only its fourth year in the Big 12, that recognition is its own milestone. BYU joined the conference in 2023 as a program still proving it belonged at the Power Four level. Placing the preseason Offensive Player of the Year and five teammates on the all-conference list is the league saying, in its own way, that the Cougars are no longer the new arrivals.

The expectations are earned, not hype

BYU's confidence rests on results, not projection. The Cougars went 12-2 and reached the Big 12 Championship game a year ago, and head coach Kalani Sitake and athletic director Brian Santiago used their Media Days platform to address the pressure directly rather than deflect it — which is what programs do when the goal is genuinely in range.

Martin is the engine of that case. A 6-foot-2, 225-pound back out of El Paso, Texas, he is the rare returning star who already owns the league's top individual offensive honor and is favored to keep it. Around him, Bachmeier gives BYU a young offensive centerpiece and Mitchell protects the middle of the line. The pieces that produced 12 wins are, in large part, still on the roster.

What last season's near-miss set up

BYU's 2025 season is the whole context. Twelve wins and a trip to the Big 12 Championship game announced the Cougars as a real player in a league they had joined only in 2023. Ending that run without the trophy is exactly the kind of result that turns into offseason fuel. Players framed 2025's disappointment as motivation, and the roster's continuity means the frustration has somewhere to go.

For a state that watches Utah football recruiting closely, BYU's rise also raises the in-state stakes. The Cougars are recruiting, and winning, as a program that can now point to a conference title-game appearance and a returning Offensive Player of the Year.

What to watch in 2026

The question is no longer whether BYU belongs in the Big 12 — it is whether the Cougars can finish the job. Watch how the offense builds around Martin and Bachmeier, whether the veteran defensive front travels, and how BYU handles being a hunted team rather than a surprise. Media Days set the expectation out loud. The season decides whether it holds.

Key facts:

• Event: Big 12 Media Days, The Star, Frisco, Texas — BYU featured on day one, July 7, 2026
• Top honor: LJ Martin named Big 12 preseason Offensive Player of the Year (a repeat of his 2025 award)
• Martin's 2025: 1,305 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns; BYU went 12-2 and reached the Big 12 Championship game
• Preseason All-Big 12 Cougars (6): LJ Martin, Bear Bachmeier, Bruce Mitchell, Isaiah Glasker, Evan Johnson, Keanu Tanuvasa
• Voices: head coach Kalani Sitake, athletic director Brian Santiago
• Context: BYU's fourth season in the Big 12 (joined 2023)