The athletics mascot, Cosmo the Cougar, was created by Dwayne Stevenson, and made his first appearance before BYU fans on October 15, 1953.

However, it is largely recognized as not lending the school any significant advantage, as players receive no athletic and little physical training during their missions.

[8] BYU has also received attention from sports networks for refusal to play games on Sunday, as well as disciplining players due to honor code violations.

The BYU men's basketball team is ranked among top 25 NCAA programs for all-time total victories.

In 2005, the program was ranked 36th in Street & Smiths "100 greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time", based on NCAA tournament success, NIT success, national championships, conference regular-season and tournament titles, all-time win–loss percentage, graduation percentage, NCAA infractions, NBA first round draft picks, and mascot ferocity.

Cross country originated at BYU as an informal competition, technically classified as a long distance running event for the track and field team.

Clarence Robison, an experienced collegiate and Olympic long distance runner, became the track and field coach in 1950.

Robison's experience and interest in long distance running led to the growing popularity of cross country both in track and field and as its own sport.

In 1962, Sherald James was added on the track and field coaching staff with his primary responsibility being the cross country team.

James helped cultivate the popularity of the program and cross country as an event in track and field.

[15]: 447 Three BYU runners have won 4 individual cross country national championships; Ed Eyestone in 1985, Josh Rohatinsky in 2006, and Conner Mantz in 2020 and 2021.

[18]: 292–293  The BYU women's cross-country team has won national championships in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2002, led by coach Patrick Shane.

[20][21] Under the coaching of Diljeet Taylor, the BYU women's cross-country team has won 2 more national championships, coming in 2021 and 2024.

[25] The Brigham Young University Cougars football program competes at the NCAA Division I FBS (formerly I-A) level.

[29] Alumni who have played in the NFL include Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Gifford Nielsen, Bart Oates, Chad Lewis, Vai Sikahema, Todd Christensen, John Beck, and Zach Wilson.

Coach Fred Dixon led the golf team to a 1956 conference victory, but for most of the 1950s, golfers finished in third and fourth place.

[33] Prior to 1958, gymnastics existed at BYU as an unsponsored sport, winning league victories as early as 1911.

Moe trained several nationally ranked gymnasts and his teams finished second and third place (twice) in the conference during his last three years.

Bruce Morgenegg was named the head coach in 1965 and the team placed second in the conference, only four points behind the University of Arizona.

[15]: 456 Dr. Lavon Johnson took over the head coaching responsibilities while Morgenegg took a leave of absence to pursue doctoral studies.

Until the Richards Building was completed in 1965, Cryer coached four swimmers at Park Ro She Swimming Pool in Springville.

[15]: 464  The 1970 Men's track and field team tied with Oregon and Kansas to win the outdoor national championship.

[49] BYU's men's volleyball has won three NCAA national championships in (1999, 2001, and 2004) and has been the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion ten times (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021).

BYU has been led by head coach Steve St. Pierre since 2018, and normally plays its home games at South Field.

This decision was officially made largely due to a lack of other teams in the region to compete with, when in actuality, it was mostly Title IX reasons.

For wrestling, this reason was highly debated at the time as there were plenty of teams to compete with in the region, and a state rival was even added with Utah Valley University, albeit 4 years later.

In 2007 the team was granted official extramural sport status by the university and competed as BYU in the Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League.

In late 2021, the university informed the team it would no longer officially sanction the club, citing Title IX and organizational concerns.

With the American Collegiate Hockey Association requiring official recognition of a university to compete, the team ceased operations at the end of the 2021-22 season.

[67] Similar to other Division I programs, football and men's basketball provide the majority of BYU's athletics revenue and profits.