Editing Brigham Young University (section)

== Athletics ==
{{Main|BYU Cougars}}
[[File:BYA Football Champions 1896.png|thumb|right|The school's first football team, which won the regional championship in 1896]]
BYU sponsors 21 athletic teams that compete in [[NCAA Division I|Division I]] of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]], plus 6 teams that compete in extramural competition and over 50 intramural activities.<ref name="byucougars1">{{Cite web |url=http://byucougars.com/athletics/extramural-sports-byu |title=BYU Athletics, Extramural Sports at BYU |access-date=December 15, 2016 |archive-date=May 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528062742/http://byucougars.com/athletics/extramural-sports-byu |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Info: BYU Intramurals |url=https://intramurals.byu.edu/information.php |access-date=12 September 2021 |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912143745/https://intramurals.byu.edu/information.php |url-status=live }}</ref> All sports teams compete in the [[Big 12 Conference]] except for men's volleyball which is a member of the [[Mountain Pacific Sports Federation]].  BYU's sports teams have won a total of 14 NCAA championships and 26 non-NCAA championships. In 2021, BYU formally accepted an invitation to the Big 12 Conference and started participating in the conference in the 2023–24 school year.<ref name="Big12">{{cite web|title=It's official:BYU is Big 12 bound|date=September 10, 2021|url=https://www.deseret.com/2021/9/10/22665870/byu-cougars-are-officially-headed-to-the-big-12-conference|publisher=Deseret News|access-date=10 September 2021|archive-date=September 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910152333/https://www.deseret.com/2021/9/10/22665870/byu-cougars-are-officially-headed-to-the-big-12-conference|url-status=live}}</ref> Also that year, BYU's athletics program was ranked #17 out of 293 Division I schools for overall athletics by the [[National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics]] ([[NACDA Directors' Cup|Directors' Cup]]).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Doug |title=What BYU's final ranking in Directors' Cup says about Cougars' athletic program |url=https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/7/22565564/byu-cougars-ranking-in-directors-cup-says-much-about-direction-of-athletic-department |publisher=Deseret News |access-date=12 September 2021 |date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912143743/https://www.deseret.com/2021/7/7/22565564/byu-cougars-ranking-in-directors-cup-says-much-about-direction-of-athletic-department |url-status=live }}</ref>

BYU's athletic teams are named the "Cougars", with [[Cosmo the Cougar]] serving as the school's mascot since 1953. The school's fight song is the [[The Cougar Song (BYU)|Cougar Fight Song]]. Because many of its players serve on full-time missions for two years (men when they are 18, women when 19), BYU athletes are often older on average than other schools' players. The NCAA allows students to serve missions for two years without subtracting that time from their eligibility period. This has caused minor controversy, but is largely recognized as not lending the school any significant advantage, since players receive no athletic and little physical training during their missions.<ref>{{cite web| last = Crain| first = Nate| title = The Myth of the BYU Missionary Advantage| publisher = Scout.com| date = June 10, 2005| url = http://coloradostate.scout.com/a.z?s=132&p=2&c=386324| access-date = January 21, 2008| archive-date = October 21, 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141021233025/http://coloradostate.scout.com/a.z?s=132&p=2&c=386324| url-status = live}}</ref> BYU has also received attention from sports networks for refusal to play games on Sunday, as well as [[2010–11 BYU Cougars men's basketball team#Davies controversy|expelling players]] due to honor code violations.<ref>{{cite web| last = Jackson| first = Lisa Ann| title = Setting things straight| publisher = BYU Magazine| url = http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=202| access-date = January 21, 2008| archive-date = July 29, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200729133109/https://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=202| url-status = live}}</ref>

The university's teams and individual players have won various awards for their achievements. Its football has had seven inductees into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] and one [[Heisman Trophy]] winner, and it won the [[1984 BYU Cougars football team|National Championship in 1984]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/top/1164/0/The-seven-BYU-inductees-into-the-College-Football-Hall-of-Fame.html |title= The seven BYU inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame |access-date=6 August 2020 |date=5 December 2012 |last=Hemsley |first=Landon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405224049/https://www.deseretnews.com/top/1164/0/The-seven-BYU-inductees-into-the-College-Football-Hall-of-Fame.html |archive-date=April 5, 2019|work=Deseret News}}</ref> In basketball, BYU has had several standout basketball players including 2011 [[Naismith College Player of the Year]] [[Jimmer Fredette]] and 1981 [[John R. Wooden Award]] winner [[Danny Ainge]].<ref name=ESPN.com>{{cite web|title=Fredette completes awards haul|url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=6301528|access-date=May 25, 2012|date=April 6, 2011|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102152816/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6301528|url-status=live}}</ref>