alt=Brandon JuddUnlike Utah, BYU isn’t seen as a College Football Playoff contender this season.
The Cougars, though, do have a challenging schedule that, if they were to go undefeated, could change that as the program plays its final year of independence in 2022.
What’s more likely, however, is that BYU plays the role of playoff spoiler in its final season before moving to the Big 12 Conference in 2023.
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli predicted just that for the Cougars this season, seeing BYU as one of five teams that could bring chaos to the College Football Playoff race.
“Like Notre Dame, BYU is an independent program that schedules well. Unlike Notre Dame, the Cougars do not have an obvious path to the College Football Playoff without doing something extraordinary,” Fornelli wrote.
“However, that difficult schedule means the Cougars will play teams that do have a clear path, and they’re a team capable of knocking them off course.”
The other teams that Fornelli believes could be chaotic for the CFP this year include Power Five programs like Auburn, South Carolina and Stanford, as well as Group of Five school Kent State.
The Cougars’ biggest reason for inclusion on this list is the program’s schedule, which includes several Power Five schools that have aspirations of making a run at the playoff.
“In the first three weeks of the season, the Cougars will get a shot at defending Big 12 champion Baylor and Pac-12 runner-up Oregon. In early October, there’s a neutral-site game against Notre Dame in Las Vegas,” Fornelli wrote.
“While those three programs aren’t favorites for a playoff berth in the manner of Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, Oregon and Baylor play in Power Five conferences with the chance to win their leagues. Notre Dame has reached the playoff twice.”
Even Arkansas, the SEC team that will be making its first trip ever to Provo in mid-October, is seen by some as a possible playoff darkhorse.
By the season’s third week, though — BYU hosts Baylor on Sept. 10, then plays at Oregon on Sept. 17 — the Cougars could have already spoiled another team’s chance at making the playoff.
“A loss to BYU would not hurt Oregon or Baylor in their quest to win the Pac-12 or Big 12, but it could be the deciding factor in their bid to become one of the top four,” Fornelli wrote.