Ben Criddle

Welcome to the world Sundance Suzanne Criddle! Sunny Sue we love you ❤️ Momma and baby are doing well! Joy and rejoicing 🙌🏼

LJ Martin in 2025: 87.9 rushing grade (t-21st) 893 yards after contact (7th) 1,299 rushing yards (1st in b12) 56 forced missed tackles (1st in b12)

As part of my Cougar Sports media work I'm doing with @CriddleBenjamin, I want to get to know as many BYU fans as possible! Drop a like, comment, re-post or interact with this post in any way, follow me and I'll give you a follow back! Let's get a BYU fan follow train going

Perhaps the largest sacrament meeting in the world is happening right now in the Marriott Center. BYU Fathers and Sons camp. 1,300 people. 16 priests blessing and 36 deacons passing the sacrament. Former @byufootball tight end and now counselor in the Sunday School Presidency, Gabe Reid said this gathering celebrates the greatest victory ever won. Jesus over sin and death. @BYUMBB head coach Kevin Young also talked about building a foundation on Christ.

Beyond blessed to be in this position!! Grateful for everyone who has helped me get to this point!

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BYU has now lost 4 of their top 6 pass catchers from last season. 178 Catches 1,617 Yards

Brandon C Gurney joined @espnthefan to discuss why BYU and Notre Dame should schedule a long term series: Q: Let’s talk Notre Dame scheduling. National guys like Ari Wasserman and Andy Staples have been discussing it. Brandon C. Gurney: Longtime listeners know Criddle and I attended the same singles ward back in the day. It was the island of misfit Mormons. And I remember talking to our bishop once because I couldn’t get second dates. You know what he told me? “Gurney, you lack credibility. These girls don’t believe you can close.” That brings me to BYU football. There’s this assumption now that BYU’s in the Big 12 and everything’s solved. But BYU still lacks national credibility. That’s why a long-term series with Notre Dame Fighting Irish football matters so much. Notre Dame doesn’t fully take BYU seriously yet. Most of the national audience still sees BYU as the team that got pushed around by Texas Tech, who then got run over by Oregon in the playoff. BYU’s still auditioning. They haven’t fully “arrived” yet. Playing Notre Dame every year gives BYU the chance to establish credibility on a national stage. Q: There’s a perception that once BYU entered the Big 12, the work was done. But realignment isn’t over. Brandon C. Gurney: Exactly. We make fun of Utah fans constantly obsessing about the next round of realignment, but the reality is it’s coming. BYU still has to prove it belongs long-term in the upper tier of college football. The Big 12 still isn’t taken seriously nationally. So BYU has to establish itself as more than just “that decent Big 12 team.” You need notable wins. And Notre Dame is always a notable win. If BYU starts consistently taking Notre Dame to the brink — or beating them — people start saying, “Okay, you can’t leave BYU out when the next big realignment comes.” That’s why I want the Notre Dame series every single year. Full interview: spreaker.com/episode/5-20-2… 📸: @BYUFOOTBALL @BYUphoto

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. @rtmccombs of Vanquish the Foe joins us next, to get into: 🏀: BYU Basketball's big man situation 🏀: Current roster construction 📻: listen.streamon.fm/kovoam 📷: @BYUMBB @BYUphoto

Darnell Dickson of the Daily Herald joined @espnthefan to break down BYU's search for a center: Q: Have you ever seen a situation like this before? No starting center, no backup center, and we’re getting into crunch time. Darnell Dixon: Up until probably three or four years ago, you weren’t faced with this situation because your roster was already set by now. You knew who the players were. I used to keep track at the end of the season — these guys are seniors, these guys are going on missions, here’s the recruiting class — and then you were done. But it’s not that simple anymore with NIL and the transfer portal. In basketball, trends matter, and one of the trends right now is you’ve got to have a seven-footer. You need a guy who can create mismatches and score points. You watch the NBA playoffs and see Victor Wembanyama doing what he does, and everybody thinks, “We need the next Wemby.” Well, those guys don’t exactly grow on trees. When BYU is looking for a center, though, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a seven-footer. It can be a 6-foot-8 or even 6-foot-7 guy with the right build and skill set. At this point, though, it feels like BYU has gone through Plans A, B, C, D, E, maybe all the way through Z. They’re running out of options. They may have to dip into the junior college ranks or smaller schools and bring in guys from non-power conferences just to have enough bodies. Should fans be worried? A little bit, yeah. I think the coaches would admit they wanted this done already, and it hasn’t happened yet. Full interview: spreaker.com/episode/5-21-2… 📸: @BYUMBB @BYUphoto

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COUGARS QUALIFY 33 ENTRIES TO NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY ROUND INDIANAPOLIS - BYU women's track & field posted 33 entries to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Fayetteville, Ark. on May 27-30, the NCAA announced Thursday afternoon. Between the men's and women's teams combined 59 entries, this marks the 11th time that the programs have earned over 50 entries into the regional round. The women will compete on Thursday, May 28 and Saturday, May 30. Full details: byucougars.com/news/2026/05/2… 📸: @BYUTFXC @BYUphoto

James Westling of Big 12 Today joined @espnthefan to discuss the state of the Big 12: Q: How do you evaluate the Big 12 season they had last year in college football? James Westling: I think we talked a lot about baby-stepping this league after the Texas and Oklahoma departure a few years ago. I think the 16 member institutions in this conference bring a lot to the table. I love the approach that commissioner Brett Yormark has taken. He’s the architect of what I think is the most aggressive conference strategy in the entire country. He’s very progressive. He’s not afraid to take risks and grow, and I think in this modern era that’s necessary. The next step for the league is to win a game in the College Football Playoff. It’s pretty cut and dry. Last year, Texas Tech’s breakthrough and getting a bye in the College Football Playoff moved the needle, but it didn’t move it nearly as much as a win over Oregon would have for this league. Getting multiple bids would be a really good thing for the conference, but even more importantly, whether it’s one bid, two bids, or somehow three bids, getting a win in the College Football Playoff is the next step in pushing the narrative that this league is legit. I still think the league is vastly underrated. I love what Texas Tech has this year, with or without Brendan Sorsby. There are some other teams that are going to shock people. BYU is one of them. Houston has a lot coming back. Arizona has a lot coming back. I also love the moves Kansas State and Oklahoma State made with their coaching hires — young up-and-comer type guys who could have coached at a lot of other places and chose the Big 12. I think the Big 12 stock is rising, and this is going to be a big year to prove that. Full interview: spreaker.com/episode/5-21-2… 📸: @BYUFOOTBALL @BYUphoto

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KITCHEN, CUTTING CLAIM BIG 12 OUTDOOR POSTSEASON HONORS IRVING, Texas – Tayvon Kitchen earned the Big 12 Outstanding Freshman of the Year award and Carter Cuttingbecame the Big 12 Outdoor Scholar-athlete of the Year, the conference announced Thursday afternoon. Kitchen was selected as the 2026 Outstanding Freshman of the Year after setting the BYU school record in the 5000-meter posting a 13:16.27 at the Bryan Clay Invitation in his first collegiate season. The Central Point, Oregon product also holds the BYU school record in the indoor 3000-meter and the No. 2 all-time BYU record in the indoor 5000m. Kitchen finished as an All-American in his first season of Cross Country in the fall after taking 32nd at the NCAA Cross Country National Championship. The true freshman adds the award to a resume that also includes his name on a list of seven athletes to ever record a sub four minute mile in the state of Utah. Kitchen qualified for the NCAA Outdoor West Regionals in the 5000-meter with the fifth ranked time among athletes in the west region which is also the fifth fastest time in the NCAA nationally as well since all five of the top national times reside in the west region. Cutting earned the honors of the 2026 outdoor Scholar-athlete of the year after recording a 3.90 GPA while simultaneously crowning himself the Big 12 1500-meter outdoor champion posting a 3:58.63 win that featured a final 200-meters where the junior overtook nearly the entire field of competition. The Wilsonville, Oregon product is the reigning NCAA indoor national champion in the mile after winning the title in March of 2026. The junior also holds the No. 8 all-time BYU record in the 1500m and the No. 7 all-time BYU mark in the outdoor 800-meter. He is the school record holder in the indoor mile and goes into the NCAA West Regional meet ranked No. 11 nationally in the 1500m. Full details: byucougars.com/news/2026/05/2… 📸: @BYUTFXC @BYUphoto

COUGARS EARN 26 ENTRIES AT NCAA OUTDOOR WEST REGIONALS INDIANAPOLIS - BYU men’s track and field posted 26 entries for the NCAA West Regionals at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas on May 27-30 the NCAA announced Thursday afternoon. The top ranked 48 athletes in individual events for each region qualify for the meet and the top 24 relay teams in each region also qualify. The top 12 finishers in the finals at the meet will move on to the NCAA National Championship at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on June 10-13. Additionally the top 24 decathlon and heptathlon athletes qualify directly to the National Championship meet. Between the combined 59 entries for the programs men’s and women’s team this is the 11th time BYU has qualified more than 50 entries for the regional meet. The men are scheduled to compete Wednesday May 27 and Friday May 29. Full details: byucougars.com/news/2026/05/2… 📸: @BYUTFXC @BYUphoto

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. @Tjonesonthenba of the Athletic joins us next, to get into: 🏀: NBA Lottery talk 🏀: AJ Dybantsa being the projected no. 1 pick 📻: listen.streamon.fm/kovoam 📷: @BYUMBB @BYUphoto

Former Daily Universe editor Owen Chapman joined @espnthefan to discuss the potential of BYU landing Luigi Suigo: Q: What’s the likelihood BYU lands him, and what do you think is the biggest reason they’ve missed on so many centers? Because it feels like BYU has everything to offer except maybe the financial side. Owen Chapman: At this point, what we know is his name is still in the NBA Draft process and he’s projected somewhere in the 40s. Kevin Young has had a relationship with him for years through the European pipeline. All signs point to BYU being one of the leaders, but there are a lot of factors. Somebody could come in with a huge NIL offer, or he could simply stay in the draft and go to the NBA. That uncertainty is not where you want to be entering the summer. Full interview: spreaker.com/episode/5-21-2… 📸: @BYUMBB @BYUphoto

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