BYU realigned to the Northwest division in 2006 and, with the ' big three ' finally out of the way, the Cougars finally began to see success.

Their first season in the PDL saw BYU in the Southwest division, competing against traditionally strong southern California sides such as Orange County Blue Star and Southern California Seahorses.

2005 was much of the same, as BYU remained the Southwest ' best of the rest ' behind Blue Star, the Seahorses and Fuego.

* Utah Derby: BYU Cougars vs. Ogden Outlaws, both in the Southwest Division of the PDL.

Because of the WAC's contract with the Holiday Bowl, BYU, # 1 ranked and the only undefeated team in Division I-A going into that season's bowls, was obligated to play in the mid-tier Holiday Bowl against a mediocre ( 6 – 5 ) Michigan squad.

The highpoint of the BYU offense was a NCAA Division I-A national football championship in 1984 and a Heisman Trophy for Ty Detmer in 1990.

The season highlights included a 3-0 road victory over Wisconsin Rebels in late May, and a pair of 3-goal home victories over BYU Cougars, but results were never forthcoming, and they failed to make the playoffs, finishing fourth in the Heartland Division with a 10-7-1 record, fifteen points behind divisional champions Chicago Fire Reserves.

The BYU Cougars, for example, in 2009 had revenue of $ 41 million and expenses of $ 35 million, resulting in a profit of $ 5. 5 million or about 16 % margin.

In the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl, the Beavers lost to the BYU Cougars of the Mountain West Conference.

The Gators returned to the NCAA tournament during the 2009 – 2010 season, but lost in the first round to the BYU Cougars in double overtime.

The following year, though, the Arizona Wildcats denied BYU their third consecutive Las Vegas Bowl win by winning 31 – 21.

More recently, the surviving apostles will typically meet in the Salt Lake Temple on the first Sunday following the late president's funeral, to select and set apart the next president of the church ( as was done in 1973, and described in detail by President Tanner to BYU students in 1978 ).

The following season, BYU returned to the Las Vegas Bowl as a nationally-ranked team.

One college club, the BYU Cougars men's team, have foregone playing in the NCAA or NAIA and instead play all of their games in the PDL.

The BYU Cougars team is the men's college soccer team of Brigham Young University, and are one of the few openly religious teams in the PDL, their host university being the flagship educational establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The playoffs, which were hosted by Fresno at Chukchansi, saw them demolish Tacoma Tide 4-1, and then knock off Northwest champs BYU Cougars to take their second conference title ; but once again their national challenge saw them fall at the first hurdle, losing 1-0 to eventual PDL national champions Laredo Heat.

At about the same time the Provo Temple was built, the church acquired some nearby land which was originally slated for expansion of the BYU Provo campus.

Ten are members of the Pacific-12 Conference ( Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State ), seven are members of the Big West Conference ( Cal Poly-SLO, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, Pacific, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara ), five are members of the Mountain West Conference ( Air Force, Fresno State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV ), five are members of the West Coast Conference ( BYU, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, San Diego, Saint Mary's ), three are members of the Western Athletic Conference ( Denver, San Jose State, Seattle ), two are members of the Big Sky Conference ( Northern Colorado, Sacramento State ), two are members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference ( Alaska-Anchorage, Seattle Pacific ), one is a member of the Big 12 Conference ( Oklahoma ), one is a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association ( UC San Diego ), and one is a member of the Great West Conference ( Houston Baptist ).

To comply with conference membership regulations, Hawaii Pacific ( HPU ), Chaminade, BYU – Hawai ‘ i and Hawai ‘ i – Hilo added new sports to their programs.

BYU lost the first game of the season ( 25 – 21 against New Mexico ), but won 11 straight games after that to claim the WAC championship.

Four years later, BYU, led by their coach, LaVell Edwards, won the national championship in the Holiday Bowl by defeating the University of Michigan Wolverines, coached by Bo Schembechler, 24 – 17.

Cat Thompson, John " Brick " Breeden, Frank Ward, Val Glynn and Max Worthington were at the heart of the MSC team that won the Rocky Mountain Conference title three straight seasons, and bested Utah State, BYU, Colorado, and University of Denver.

BYU won their conference semi-final against Southern California Seahorses 2-1, with goals from David Clark and Jacob Cavanaugh, and only lost the conference final to Orange County Blue Star on penalties, after scoring two goals in the final 4 minutes to tie 2-2 in regulation time.

They won just one of their next six games, 2-1 over Yakima Reds, and suffered a tough 4-1 loss to newcomers Vancouver Whitecaps Residency in the middle of the stretch ; and while Tacoma, Vancouver and Yakima stretched out at the top of the division, BYU found themselves constantly playing catchup.

He played college football for Brigham Young University ( BYU ), where he broke several NCAA records and won several national awards including the Heisman Trophy.

The Cardinals finished the 2001 season with a record of 11-2, won the Conference USA Football Championship again and went to the 2001 Liberty Bowl where Branch had a 34 yard TD reception in their 28-10 win against BYU.

Abbotsford began the 2008 season as the first-ever opponents of the new Vancouver Whitecaps Residency franchise ; they lost the opening matchup 3-1, but won their next fixture against BYU Cougars, setting in motion the story of most of the rest of the season.

The team won just three games and scored just 21 goals all season, and eventually finished a full 29 points adrift of divisional champions BYU Cougars.

The 28-yard field goal attempt was partially blocked by BYU defensive tackle Eathyn Manumaleuna and fell short giving BYU their second Vegas Bowl victory in three tries, also making the Cougars the first school to win back-to-back Las Vegas Bowls.

The center also strives to meet the goals of the BYU Mission statement, " to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life " as well as in their educational endeavors.

In 2008, BYU made its fourth straight appearance ranked as the # 16 team in the nation and faced off against the Arizona Wildcats who made their first bowl appearance since 1998.

Recently, sports show host " Softy " began a feud with another sports show host in Salt Lake City, Utah after they argued about their predicted outcomes of the Washington vs. BYU game on September 5, 2008.

Paralleling their efforts to increase the level of competition, BYU left the collegiate club division of soccer, and purchased a Premier Development League franchise, where they began play in May 2003.

BYU overcame the San Fernando Valley Quakes in their playoff-semi final in front of almost 3, 000 fans in Fresno, but were bested in the Conference final by the impressive Fresno Fuego.

BYU were competitive all season, with most games being close 2-1 or 3-1 decisions ( their heaviest defeat of the season was a 3-0 loss to the Hollywood United Hitmen ), but the Cougar's inability to hold onto leads proved costly: they dropped points against Lancaster Rattlers from a winning position, and conceded an injury time penalty kick in their 2-1 loss to Fresno Fuego.

Despite an impressive 3-1 win over Ogden in their final regular season game, BYU finished a distant 8th in the standings, 20 points behind divisional champs Ventura County Fusion.

Upon their return, Merrill sent these men to BYU, where they formed the school ’ s first department of religion.

Unfortunately for Detmer and BYU, the season ended in disastrous fashion: the Cougars lost 59-28 in their final regular season game against Hawaii, then lost 65-14 to Texas A & M in the 1990 Holiday Bowl.

A strong season finish saw Blue Star win six of their last eight games, and their form continued into the playoffs, where they overcame Abbotsford Rangers and BYU Cougars to take the Western Conference title for the second year in a row, before losing to Michigan Bucks in the national semi finals.

The Aggies qualified for their third consecutive NCAA Tournament in the building ’ s inaugural year and hosted BYU in an opening round matchup at the Pan Am on March 8, 1969 – a 74-62 Aggie victory.

Despite opening strongly with 3 wins in their first 4 games, a mid-season slump saw them drop points against the Southern California Seahorses, California Gold and BYU Cougars.

Surge lost five of their opening nine games of the season, going down 4-0 at Tacoma Tide, 5-1 at BYU Cougars, and 5-0 at home to Abbotsford Mariners, scoring just four goals in response, and were effectively eliminated from playoff contention by the middle of June.