ESPN: BYU Outside Shot At Making College Football Playoff

PROVO, Utah – The dominance that BYU displayed in their 55-3 rout over Navy on Labor Day is turning some heads in the college football world.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly took notice of the Cougars shellacking of a Midshipmen program that has become one of the gold standards for consistency in the sport.

If BYU keeps up this dominance against a schedule that sets up nicely for Kalani Sitake’s team, could we see BYU in the College Football Playoff?

FIRST FRIDAY COLUMN OF THE SEASON:

* The race for No. 4 could be wild (if UGA & UF lose enough)
* The AAC’s never gonna have a better CFP chance
* BYU, Florida & stability rankings
* God I love watching Memphis
* WATCH CLONES-CAJUNShttps://t.co/JVU66WYfOz

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) September 11, 2020

Connelly entertained that thought in his latest column. A case for BYU might be more robust than you think.

BYU’s case for the College Football Playoff

The creator of the S&P+ ratings put out ten teams that could contend for the fourth Playoff spot this fall. Assuming we see the usual suspects, Alabama, Clemson, and Oklahoma in the final four.

BYU checked in as team number 10.

“A stretch? Maybe. But you’ve got to grant Kalani Sitake’s team this: The Cougars were absolutely terrifying on Monday night against an unprepared Navy team. Both lines were wheat threshers, and while quarterback Zach Wilson wasn’t asked to do much, he still posted a 200+ passer rating.

“Better yet, the Cougars have about the easiest schedule known to mankind. Because they had to basically redraw their schedule from scratch in August after a run of cancellations, they’re playing the teams that were available for them to play. If they look the part, and the CFP committee is choosing between them and a bunch of two- or three-loss conference non-champions, do the Cougs get the benefit of the doubt? If they keep looking the way they did on Labor Day, they might have a case.”

Being in the national conversation is the value of BYU choosing to play amid the pandemic. With only 76 FBS competing this fall, the opportunity is there for BYU to have their name linked to the Playoff conversation throughout the year. Assuming they win out, of course. ESPN’s FPI currently has BYU favored in every game except the road contest at Houston, where BYU has a 48-percent chance of winning that game according to ESPN’s computers.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from Noon-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.