BYU playoff scenarios, explained: How Cougars were eliminated from College Football Playoff after Big 12 championship loss
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BYU playoff scenarios, explained: How Cougars were eliminated from College Football Playoff after Big 12 championship loss originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The BYU Cougars’ Cinderella run to the Big 12 Championship and their hopes of crashing the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field have come to a disappointing end.
Heading into Championship Saturday, the 11-1 Cougars were positioned as one of the last few teams on the at-large bubble, knowing a Big 12 title victory was their golden ticket to the CFP. However, the No. 11 Cougars were soundly defeated by No. 4 Texas Tech, 34-7, in a contest that essentially served as a playoff elimination game for BYU.
With the loss dropping them to 11-2 and guaranteeing they will fall out of the top dozen in the final CFP rankings, the focus for BYU now shifts away from the playoff bracket and toward one of the Big 12’s premier non-CFP bowl games, with projections strongly pointing to either the Valero Alamo Bowl or the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Here’s why Saturday’s loss essentially eliminated BYU.
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Is BYU in the College Football Playoff?
Despite entering the Big 12 Championship ranked No. 11, the Cougars' hopes of earning a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff field were always contingent on winning the conference title, and that path was decisively blocked by a 34-7 loss to No. 4 Texas Tech.
Prior to the game, CFP chairman Hunter Yuracheck had commented on BYU's position, stating the 11-1 Cougars had "really, really high" schedule strength and record strength metrics, with key wins over ranked Utah and Arizona, placing them squarely on the bubble between No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 12 Miami. Yuracheck's remarks highlighted the committee's high regard for BYU's resume despite their pre-Championship ranking being historically low for an 11-1 Power Four team.
However, the resounding loss to a top-five opponent not only prevented them from avenging their earlier 29-7 defeat to Texas Tech but also shattered the single, simple path they had to the CFP — win the Big 12.
With an 11-2 final record, the Cougars are now certain to fall out of the top 12 in the final rankings, officially eliminating them from playoff contention and shifting their focus entirely to one of the Big 12's top non-CFP bowl affiliations.
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BYU playoff scenarios
The Big 12 title game loss for BYU likely knocks the Cougars out of the playoff, given that they were already on the outside of the 12-team field before the game kicked off.
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