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50 free BYU trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Brigham Young University opened as an academy in Provo in 1876 with a German immigrant as principal, banned football for nearly twenty years after a player died, and then spent the LaVell Edwards era turning itself into Quarterback U. Along the way it produced a Heisman winner, a national champion, a Jeopardy! host and the inventor of stereo sound. This BYU trivia covers the university and the Cougars in equal measure: the founding and honor code, Cosmo's $73 costume, the 1984 title run, the Holy War, the Marriott Center greats, and the alumni you did not know went to school in Provo. Every answer is sourced and explained.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Brigham Young deeded property to create his academy in Provo on October 16 of which year?
1875
Classes began the following January; the school traces its roots to a Provo school Warren Dusenberry opened in an adobe building in 1862.
Q 02Under what name was BYU founded?
Brigham Young Academy
Young said he hoped children of the Latter-day Saints could get an education there "unmixed with the pernicious atheistic influences" of other colleges.
Q 03Brigham Young's choice as the school's first principal was which German immigrant?
Karl Maeser
He arrived in April 1876; the first building on today's campus, begun in 1909, is the memorial that bears his name.
Q 04When the academy was dissolved in 1903, it was replaced by BYU and what other institution?
Brigham Young High School
The following year the new university bought land known as "Temple Hill" for the campus it occupies today.
Q 05The university's founder, Brigham Young, was born in which state?
Vermont
He was raised in upstate New York, became the LDS Church's second president in 1847, and served as the first governor of Utah Territory.
Q 06Nearly what share of BYU students have lived outside the United States?
50%
Missionary service is the main reason; about 65% of students speak a second language.
Q 07Roughly how many languages does BYU teach on a regular basis?
63
Its Russian program is among the largest in the country, and about a third of students are in a language class in any given semester.
Q 08BYU's parent Church Educational System sponsors sister schools in which two places?
Hawaii and Idaho
BYU itself also runs satellite campuses in Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., London and the Middle East.
Q 09BYU's Middle East study center, closed in 2000 over security concerns, is in which city?
Jerusalem
It reopened to students in the Winter 2007 semester after the Second Intifada and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict had kept it shut.
Q 10The main campus in Provo sits at the base of which mountain range?
Wasatch Mountains
The campus has about 295 buildings; Kimball Tower was for a long time the tallest building in Provo.
Q 11The Marriott Center, BYU's basketball arena, seats more than how many people?
19,000
That makes it the tenth-largest on-campus arena in the country.
Q 12In BYU's building abbreviation system, what is the Creamery on Ninth East called?
CONE
The creamery started in 1949 to supply milk to campus and now serves more than 191,000 gallons of ice cream a year.
Q 13The Princeton Review repeatedly named BYU the most what kind of school in America?
Stone Cold Sober
To mark 21 straight years with the title in 2018, the Creamery released mint brownie chocolate milk.
Q 21Which television pioneer began college at BYU and got an honorary degree from it in 1967?
Philo Farnsworth
He later returned to the university to work on nuclear fusion research.
Q 22BYU's Harvey Fletcher, inventor of stereo sound, did the famous oil-drop experiment with whom?
Robert Millikan
Fletcher later came home to be founding dean of BYU's College of Engineering.
Q 23Which YouTuber and former NASA engineer graduated from BYU in 2004?
Mark Rober
Violinist Lindsey Stirling ('15) and Tabernacle Choir director Mack Wilberg are also alumni.
Q 14BYU's ballroom team was the first US team to win formation titles at which English resort?
Blackpool
That 1972 win came at the British Championships; BYU now runs the largest collegiate ballroom dance program in the world.
Q 15Cosmo the Cougar first appeared in front of BYU fans in which year?
1953
Cosmo's debut came on October 15 of that year, and he has been the school's mascot ever since.
Q 16Pep chairman Dwayne Stevenson bought the first Cosmo costume for how much?
$73
He then talked his roommate, Daniel T. Gallego, into being the first person to wear it.
Q 17BYU began competing in the Big 12 Conference in which year?
2023
The conference accepted BYU's application in September 2021 alongside Cincinnati, UCF and Houston; membership began July 1 two years later.
Q 18Which BYU sport competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation instead of the Big 12?
Men's volleyball
BYU is also known for refusing to play games on Sundays.
Q 19Which BYU alumnus won 74 straight Jeopardy! games in 2004 and now hosts the show?
Ken Jennings
He graduated in 2000 and guest-hosted after Alex Trebek's death before taking the job permanently.
Q 20BYU graduate Jon Heder ('02) is best known for playing which title character?
Napoleon Dynamite
Other Cougars in entertainment include Golden Globe nominee Aaron Eckhart and animator Don Bluth.
Q 24BYU counts its collegiate football history from which first season?
1922
The program has since won 23 conference championships and one national title.
Q 25Football was banned at all LDS Church schools from 1900 for nearly two decades after what?
A player's accidental death
Brigham Young Academy had won championships in its first two seasons before the ban, which lasted until 1919.
Q 26Eldon Fortie, BYU's first football All-American in 1961, had what nickname?
The Phantom
The next year BYU moved into the Western Athletic Conference, and Cougar Stadium opened in 1964 with 30,000 seats.
Q 27Which coach led BYU to its first conference championship in 1965?
Tommy Hudspeth
The team went 6–4 that year; his successor, promoted from assistant in 1972, would win 19 more conference titles.
Q 28BYU's home stadium is named after which head coach?
LaVell Edwards
It opened as Cougar Stadium in 1964 and was renamed in his honor the year he retired.
Q 29BYU's Hall of Fame coach, a pass-first innovator from 1972 to 2000, won how many games?
257
At retirement he ranked sixth all-time in victories and second for wins at a single program, behind only Joe Paterno.
Q 30BYU's home stadium, opened in 1964, now holds roughly how many fans?
62,000
It is the largest football stadium in its conference by capacity, and replaced a 5,000-seat venue of the same name.