With the startling announcement that the Big 12 Conference will actively pursue adding two to four expansion teams, the BYU faithful are once again turned to a more positive and hopeful posture.

If that wished for invitation comes to BYU, where would the Cougars be rated among the Power 5 conference teams?

Of the 65 teams in Power 5 conferences evaluated by college football guru Phil Steele in his 2016 College Football magazine, BYU is rated as equal to or better than 31 of those teams.

The consolation prize is that Steele rates only one G5 team ahead of BYU, and that is a regional rival: the Boise State Broncos. Realistically, there is no turning back for the Cougars. It is P5 or bust ... or as we call it, P5 or stay independent.

It is much the same situation in the Big 12 as it is nationally. BYU is rated as good or better than five of the ten Big 12 teams. It just so happens that BYU is rated as a toss up on a neutral field against West Virginia, and that will actually be the venue for the contest between the two teams this fall in the Washington D.C. area.

Steele's rating system would have the Cougars as the favorite in six games and a toss up in the two neutral site venues, beginning with the season opener against the Arizona Wildcats at the NFL Arizona Cardinals' stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Steele has nine different sets as to how the BYU season will play out and four of those sets call for nine or more BYU wins. Those type of analyses whet the appetite of the avid Cougar fans who have been thirsting for a breakthrough season, but still realize that the Cougars face a daunting schedule.

It is also encouraging that Steele lists a number of BYU players among the top at their position, including QBs Tanner Mangum and Taysom Hill, FB Algernon Brown, OL Ului Lapuaho, LBs Fred Warner and Harvey Langi, and DB Kai Nacua.

Realism laced with optimism is a sound approach. With two key players back after missing most or all of last season and a horde of other talented players returning, there is certainly room for optimism.

Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams are two of the best that BYU has ever produced. If all good things align this year, it could be a very exciting and successful season. To top it off, the contest for Big 12 inclusion could be a concurrent and dramatic issue for the team, the school, and the fans. Stay tuned, and I hope you don't have to be put on hold for two and a half hours like the Cougar faithful who tuned in to hear the Big 12 announcement.

Ken Driggs of Mesa, Arizona, is a BYU graduate and served as Cosmo in the '60s. Contact him at kkdriggs@gmail.com.