BYU playoff scenarios, explained: How Cougars can clinch CFP spot in Big 12 championship game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The BYU Cougars could potentially be one of the more controversial teams in the College Football Playoff conversation. That’s because heading into conference championship weekend, the Cougars are one of the last few teams out of the 12-team field.
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BYU is 11-1, and will play Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game on Saturday afternoon. The lone loss for the Cougars came vs. Texas Tech earlier this season, falling 29-7 on the road.
Let’s run through the playoff scenarios for BYU heading into conference championship weekend.
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Is BYU in the College Football Playoff?
BYU is not currently in the College Football Playoff. Although BYU is ranked No. 11 in the most recent CFP rankings, the bracket has BYU outside the 12-team field. In fact, BYU is squarely in the middle of two other teams on the bubble in No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 12 Miami, neither of which are playing on conference championship weekend.
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CFP chairman Hunter Yuracheck addressed how the committee has evaluated those three teams on Tuesday:
“You’ve got a BYU team between them that’s 11-1,” Yuracheck said. “Their schedule strength and record strength metrics are really, really high. They’ve got a win over 15th ranked Utah and a win over 18th ranked Arizona, and their metrics rank really, really high, as well.”
“Then you’ve got Miami, who when we had our first poll, they came into our poll losers of two of three games, and so they were inserted at 18. They’ve really climbed faster than any other team during the past four or five weeks, up six spots. They’ve won four consecutive games.”
“But the committee still felt like right now Notre Dame deserves to be ranked ahead of BYU and Miami,” Yuracheck continued. “And BYU deserves to be ranked ahead of Miami.”
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BYU has a chance to avenge its 27-9 loss to Texas Tech on Nov. 8 on Saturday. The loss wasn’t pretty — the Cougars trailed 26-0 by the fourth quarter, and Tech’s defense forced two turnovers. But since then, BYU has won games against TCU, Cincinnati and UCF by double digits.
BYU’s path to the playoff seems pretty simple.
MORE: Why Notre Dame is ranked higher than Miami in latest CFP
BYU playoff scenarios
BYU wins Big 12 title game
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A win for BYU would give the Cougars an automatic berth as a conference champion
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The Red Raiders would finish 11-2 with a loss and could still be in line for a bid
BYU loses Big 12 title game
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A loss for BYU likely knocks the Cougars out of the playoff, given that the team is already on the outside of the 12-team field
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But if a five-loss Duke team beats Virginia in the ACC title game, that could open the door for an 11-2 BYU team to earn a bid. That most likely will partially depend on how close the loss is.
