BYU COUGARS

BYU Moves Up To No. 13 In Second College Football Playoff Rankings

Dec 1, 2020, 5:21 PM | Updated: 5:33 pm

Kalani Sitake - BYU Football...

Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake comes off the field after his team’s 27-20 win over the UTSA Roadrunners at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

PROVO, Utah – The good news for BYU after the second College Football Playoff rankings is that the Cougars moved up. The bad news, they are still outside the threshold to qualify for a New Year’s Six bowl game.

BYU moved up one spot from No. 14 to No. 13 in the Playoff’s second set of rankings for the 2020 season. The committee was clearly not swayed by the numerous cries from national pundits stating that the Cougars were mistreated, receiving a No. 14 ranking in the initial poll.

BYU’s move up to No. 13 was courtesy of the upset Michigan State dealt to Northwestern. The Wildcats fell from No. 8 to No. 15 after suffering the shocking upset against Sparty.

This is the second time BYU has appeared in the College Football Playoff rankings in program history. The Playoff rankings began in 2014. Last week was the Cougars first-ever ranking inside the Playoff’s Top 25.

BYU is one of three teams this season is at 9-0 on the year, and a star quarterback leads them in Zach Wilson, who is in the hunt for the Heisman Trophy.

College Football Playoff Rankings

Week of December 1st, 2020

1. Alabama

2. Notre Dame

3. Clemson

4. Ohio State

5. Texas A&M

6. Florida

7. Cincinnati

8. Georgia

9. Iowa State

10. Miami

11. Oklahoma

12. Indiana

13. BYU

14. Northwestern

15. Oklahoma State

16. Wisconsin

17. North Carolina

18. Coastal Carolina

19. Iowa

20. USC

21. Marshall

22. Washington

23. Oregon

24. Tulsa

25. Louisiana

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.

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BYU Moves Up To No. 13 In Second College Football Playoff Rankings