Nine ESPN analysts project BYU to make College Football Playoff in 2026

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The 2026 college football season is here. While everyone around the nation is preparing for Week 1, ESPN analysts are looking ahead to the end of the season. Who will be in this year's College Football Playoff?

Only 12 teams will survive the season to compete for a national championship. Where does this leave the BYU Cougars?

Kalani Sitake's team is expected to make a historic run in 2026, but will they advance into the postseason? At least nine prediction makers at the Worldwide Leader in Sports believe so. Here's a look at where the experts say the Cougars will be at the end of the season.

ESPN College Football Playoff projections

Andrea Adelson: No. 1 Notre Dame beats No. 9 BYU; both teams make the Playoff with the Cougars as Big 12 champs.

Kyle Bonagura: Same as Adelson, except BYU is a two-loss at-large. No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 11 BYU.

Bill Connelly: BYU misses Playoff

David Hale: No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 9 BYU

Eli Lederman: No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 10 BYU

Ryan McGee: No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 6 BYU and No. 9 Texas Tech

Max Olson: BYU misses Playoff

Adam Rittenberg: No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 8 BYU

Mark Schlabach: No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 6 BYU

Jake Trotter: No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 8 BYU

Paolo Uggetti: BYU misses Playoff

Dave Wilson: No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 9 BYU

Two takeaway from the projections

There are two clear takeaways from these projections. Nobody over at ESPN is giving BYU a shot to beat Notre Dame on Oct. 17 in Provo, according to the ranking order in the projections. Also, nine out of the 12 analysts picking the Cougars aren't terrible odds in the slightest.

BYU has a path to make its first appearance in the College Football Playoff. After coming up short each of the past two seasons, this could be the season Sitake and his staff are able to advance. They've been building towards this moment for years and have outstanding personnel on both sides of the ball to be a serious contender. The Cougars are capable of breaking through and crashing the Playoff party that's expected to feature multiple SEC and Big Ten teams.

If BYU is going to break through and win the Big 12 and beyond, it's going to hinge on the play of Bear Bachmeier. The dual-threat passer introduced himself to the college football landscape as a true freshman last season. Now the encore could be much sweeter.

Bachmeier has shown signs of improvement throughout the offseason, which included being a camp counselor at the Manning Passing Academy. His Fall Camp was also a direct result of his hard work ahead of the season. He was making throws he couldn't make last year and BYU's offense will benefit from his great decision-making ability. Bachmeier is the most crucial player to BYU's success in 2026.