Brigham Young @ Texas preview

THE STORY: Could this be a future conference rivalry? With rumors swirling that the Big 12 Conference is about to break apart, some of the only scenarios that have the conference surviving involve Brigham Young joining the league. The Cougars opened their first season as an independent with a 14-13 victory at Ole Miss on the strength of a Kyle Van Noy 3-yard fumble return for a touchdown. No. 21 Texas outgained Rice by 282 total yards in a 34-9 victory.

TV: ESPN2. LINE: Texas -7

ABOUT BYU (1-0): The Cougars outgained Ole Miss by 108 yards but still needed a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to come out on top. BYU, which faces in-state rival Utah next week, got 225 passing yards from sophomore Jake Heaps but only gained an average of 2.9 yards on 31 team carries. Since 2003, the Cougars are 10-3 in the second game of back-to-back road trips. BYU leads the all-time series 2-0, but the last meeting came in 1988, when the Cougars won 47-6.

ABOUT TEXAS (1-0): Coming off its first losing season since 1997, the Longhorns’ hope for a bounce-back 2011 campaign got started on the right note against Rice. Garrett Gilbert, who fought off David Ash and Case McCoy to win the starting quarterback job, threw for 239 yards and one touchdown, and highly touted freshman running back Malcolm Brown led Texas with 86 rushing yards. More importantly, the defense was strong in its first game under new coordinator Manny Diaz as it held the Owls to 3.7 yards per play.

EXTRA POINTS

1. BYU last played a team from the Big 12 when it upset No. 3 Oklahoma 14-13 in its 2009 season opener at Cowboys Stadium.

2. The Cougars have defeated at least one team from a BCS conference in 15 of the last 16 seasons.

3. Texas is 35-4 in its last 39 September games.

PREDICTION: Texas 20, BYU 16 - This one will probably be close throughout and both offenses could struggle to put long drives together. But in the end, the Longhorns should come through at home.