For the second week in a row BYU found its football program ranked in the AP Top 25 and the Cougars finally cracked the coaches poll this week. BYU has reached a quick 3-0 record with relative ease thanks to the play of quarterback ranked in the AP Top 25 and the Cougars finally cracked the coaches poll this week. BYU has reached a quick 3-0 record with relative ease thanks to the play of quarterback Taysom Hill and one of the hardest hitting defenses in the country. There is still plenty of football to be played, but BYU is starting to already show signs of a team capable of stringing together a 10 or 11-win season. But what would happen if the Cougars went 12-0?
BYU going undefeated is certainly a realistic possibility, but will not come easy. BYU will host a Virginia team that has already shut down UCLA’s and Louisville’s offenses this season, but the Cavaliers may come up short on offense on the road against the Cougars this weekend. After Virginia, Chuckie Keeton and Utah State visit Provo. Keeton may not be quite 100 percent but BYU holds the edge over he and the Aggies anyway the last few years.
BYU’s biggest road games the rest of the season will be played at UCF (Thursday, October 9) and at Boise State (Friday, October 24). The regular season concludes on the road at California. To most, the strength of schedule for BYU lacks much to stack up compared to teams from other conferences, so it may take some convincing even to get a 12-0 BYU team into the College Football Playoff. BYU’s case would be given some legs to stand on if an unblemished record included wins over a Mountain West Conference champion (Boise State, Utah State or Nevada) and an American Athletic Conference champion (UCF), but even that might not prove to be enough to make a push into the playoff. Not in the eyes of the selection committee, that is.
When BYU left the Mountain West Conference to pursue football independence, it did so knowing it faced a challenge to crack the grand stages of the postseason format in the BCS era. The formula has not changed under the new playoff era, but the Cougars have another obstacle to even get to one of the big revenue bowl games at the end of the season. Even without receiving a spot in a four-team playoff, BYU will have to wait until all power conference champions or alternates are slated in the playoff and big bowl line-up. Then BYU must wait for the highest ranked conference champion from a Group of Five conference to be given a bowl game. BYU then must hope the selection committee extends an invite to BYU over attractive and qualified options from the rest of the field, most likely coming from the power conferences. Then it all comes down to who has done the most and (likely) who will draw the most attractive match-up and crowd in the stands and on TV. If that becomes the case, then BYU’s best bet may be to rely on a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.
But hey, there is plenty of football to be played. If you are BYU, the only thing to do now is the same as what schools like Florida State, Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma are doing and just win all the games you can. Nobody knows how the selection committee will handle the postseason, so the best thing BYU can do is simply make it impossible for the selection committee not to include them somewhere in the field.