BYU traveled to Salt Lake City and lost by one score to No. 3 Utah, 28-20. The Cougars entered that game No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings. The rankings are released every Tuesday in November and December, leading into the postseason. We will learn BYU’s fate around 9:00pm ET Tuesday night.
Logically, traveling to No. 3 and losing by one score shouldn’t hurt BYU much. However, we have seen the College Football Playoff Committee not give BYU the benefit of the doubt over and over. If BYU were
an SEC team, they may not fall more than a spot or two.
Let’s look at last season. BYU entered their first matchup with Texas Tech in Lubbock ranked No. 7 in the CFP rankings, with the Red Raiders checking in at No. 8. Texas Tech blasted BYU 29-7. The next week, BYU fell from 7 to No. 12 in the next CFP rankings. As BYU fans know, that was something of a death knell. They were unable to get higher than 11th by the final rankings, despite winning their final three regular season games before falling in the Big 12 title game to those same Red Raiders. They ended up being two spots out of the actual playoff bracket.
The Cougars entered 2026 determined to not let that happen again. A win against Notre Dame certainly gave them some room for error that they didn’t have last year. Unfortunately, they immediately spent their mulligan by inexplicably losing to UCF the very next week.
Remember, Notre Dame gets into the Playoff automatically as long as they are in the top 12. Luckily, that shouldn’t be an issue since they beat No. 1 Miami and should be no lower than sixth tonight with a smooth schedule the rest of the way. Also, the highest ranked Group of 6 team gets into the bracket as well. That means, if they are ranked outside the top 12, that team will be a “bid stealer” from a team on the fringe, much like last year.
That certainly would be the case this year, as Boise State is the only Group of 6 team currently ranked.
So, where will BYU fall come the rankings Tuesday?
Below BYU, No. 10 Ole Miss got smoked by No. 2 Georgia, 42-7. They should fall several spots. As mentioned, No. 11 Notre Dame beat No. 1 Miami and will surely leapfrog BYU. No. 12 Ohio State lost by multiple scores to Oregon at home. A tricky one for BYU is the fact that No. 13 Tennessee blew out No. 8 Kentucky. Expect them to shoot up the boards while Kentucky likely won’t be punished much for losing at Rocky Top. No. 14 LSU lost to No. 5 Alabama.
The big questions for BYU are- where will Kentucky fall? They are in a similar boat to BYU, but suffered a larger margin of defeat to a lower ranked opponent than the Cougars falling to the Utes. Oregon began the week down at No. 23. Does the committee dare skyrocket the Ducks over BYU after a road win at Ohio State? That would be a massive jump.
Let’s tentatively say that Kentucky drops more than BYU, the Irish and Volunteers jump over the Cougars, and Oregon lands just behind BYU. BYU also benefits from three of the five teams directly behind them also losing.
Also, remember when BYU beat Notre Dame? That’s turning into one of the best wins in the entire country.
CFP Ranking Prediction: No. 11
