2020 BYU Cougars Football Thread

[Omaha 680]

Also I think they will wait until after the first CFP rankings are released to decide on adding games. Despite the hand wringing above, we are nearly guaranteed a NY6 bid if we beat SDSU. If we don't enter the CFP rankings in the top 8, there is no reason to risk that bid by adding another game.

If by some miracle we do enter in the top 8, making a run at a once in a lifetime playoff berth should be considered.

[Omaha 680]

First off, it’s Sunday so of course BYU isn’t responding.

Second, I wonder if the team has already left for the break. I would imagine most would stay in town and quarantine since there’s one more game, but playing on short notice on a holiday week when no other game was scheduled, sounds like a hard pass to me.

Sunday was a reference to the Utah/ASU game. BYU rightly doesn't want to agree to a Washington game and begin preparing, only for Washington to bail on Thursday and be plugged into the Sunday game against Utah when ASU can't go. Good for Tom. I would be all for this game if they guaranteed it, but their cancelation stipulation is ridiculous. I hope the PAC 12 champion ends up playing 5 games total and Utah ends the season 0-1.

[Moliere]

First off, it’s Sunday so of course BYU isn’t responding.

Second, I wonder if the team has already left for the break. I would imagine most would stay in town and quarantine since there’s one more game, but playing on short notice on a holiday week when no other game was scheduled, sounds like a hard pass to me.

[SCcoug]

I'll add that UW is bush league leaking this to the press. BYU doesn't need to be their non-guaranteed backup game.

[Joe Public]

Sounds like UW wants BYU to replace WSU this Saturday. I'd do it if they'd waive the last minute cancelation demand.

Washington has reached out to BYU about playing a replacement game this week, but the eighth-ranked Cougars have so far resisted, sources told ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...e-covid-issues

[Bo Diddley]

Jim and Sark have obviously had their problems, but it's supposed to be anonymous.

[Non Sequitur]

Giff Nielsen deserves most of the credit. He convinced Jim to come to Provo when all the former AA QBs were honored when Sark came to Provo as HC of UW. Jim thought the fans would boo him. Giff promised that they’d go nuts for him. They did, and that was the start of the reconciliation.

Jim and Sark have obviously had their problems, but it's supposed to be anonymous.

[SCcoug]

Sounds like UW wants BYU to replace WSU this Saturday. I'd do it if they'd waive the last minute cancelation demand.

[Pelado]

Here are the teams that would be in the NY6 bowls based on the current AP poll (not considering yesterday's games):

1. Alabama (AP1) (Playoff)
2. Notre Dame (AP2) (Playoff)
3. Ohio State (AP3) (Playoff)
4. Clemson (AP4) (Playoff)
5. Texas A&M (AP5) (SEC)
6. Cincinnati (AP7) (G5)
7. Indiana (AP9) (Big Ten)
8. Oregon (AP11) (P12)
9. Miami (AP12) (ACC)
10. Oklahoma State (AP14) (Big 12)
11. Florida (AP6) (At Large #1)
12. BYU (AP8) (At Large #2)

Based on the games yesterday, I think it's safe to assume that Northwestern* and Oklahoma take the spots of Indiana and Oklahoma State as the best available Big Ten and Big 12 teams. With that adjustment, the NY6 teams would be:

1. Alabama (AP1) (Playoff)
2. Notre Dame (AP2) (Playoff)
3. Ohio State (AP3) (Playoff)
4. Clemson (AP4) (Playoff)
5. Texas A&M (AP5) (SEC)
6. Cincinnati (AP7) (G5)
7. Northwestern (Big Ten)
8. Oregon (AP11) (P12)
9. Miami (AP12) (ACC)
10. Oklahoma (Big 12)
11. Florida (AP6) (At Large #1)
12. BYU (AP8) (At Large #2)

The Bowls would be:

Rose (Playoff): Alabama v. Clemson
Sugar (Playoff): Notre Dame v. Ohio State
Orange (Contracted to ACC v. highest available from SEC, Big Ten, or ND): Miami v. Texas A&M
Peach: Florida v. Oregon
Cotton: Oklahoma v. Northwestern
Fiesta: BYU v. Cincinnati

The Peach, Cotton, and Fiesta Bowl teams are selected by the CFP committee based on things like geography, competitiveness, and entertainment value.

If any team that is not on the list of NY6 teams gets ranked ahead of BYU, BYU loses the last At Large spot and is left out. Teams that are currently ranked in the Top 25 that I could see the CFP committee rank higher than BYU would be:

Indiana (4-1)
Wisconsin (2-1)
Georgia (5-2)
Iowa State (6-2)
Oklahoma State (4-2)
USC (3-0)
Texas (5-2)
Auburn (5-2)

There's also a couple unranked Pac12 teams that are currently undefeated that could leapfrog BYU, like Washington (2-0) and Colorado (2-0).

If any of these teams win out, I would not be surprised to see them leap frog BYU in the final CFP poll. I think that's especially true of perennial favorites like: Georgia, USC, Texas, Auburn, and Wisconsin. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if one of those teams was ranked ahead of BYU in the initial CFP poll that comes out on Tuesday. Teams that are unlikely to play in their conference championship games are particularly dangerous. Those would be: Georgia, Auburn, Texas, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Wisconsin, any of the Pac12 teams.

Obviously some of these teams will lose before the end of the season, but there's also a really good chance that there is a 1 or 2 loss team from a P5 conference at the end of the season that the CFP committee will be tempted to place ahead of BYU. And given the makeup of the committee (10/12 members closely tied to P5 conferences), I think the odds are that they will succumb to that temptation.

*I was wrong about Northwestern's win being a big problem for BYU ... they wouldn't take an At Large spot, assuming they are the highest ranked BIG Ten team not in the playoff.

I don't think that's right.

The Rose and Sugar host the semi-finals this year. In years they don't host the semifinals, they get the champion of their contracted leagues (Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) or, if that league's champion is in the playoff, the second-place team. Since the Rose and Sugar are hosting the semifinals this season, no second-place team from those conferences is required to be selected. There is a similar arrangement for the Orange and the ACC champion which is in force for this season. I think you may be right that the Orange Bowl also takes the best available from SEC/Big10/ND.

So if the playoff has Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, then I believe the only other automatic bids are the Big 12 champ (let's assume Oklahoma), the Pac-12 champ (Oregon), the highest-ranked G5 champ (Cincinnati), and an ACC team (Miami) and best of SEC/B10/ND (Texas A&M) for the Orange Bowl. That's nine spots, leaving 3 at-large positions which, based on the current AP poll, would be Florida (6), BYU (8), and Northwestern (11).

If Florida loses in the SEC title game, I expect them to drop below an undefeated BYU.

As for the undefeated Pac12 teams, dont they have a title game? I'm not expecting any more than one undefeated Pac12, which is already accounted for (Oregon).

In short, if the committee ranks things substantially similar to the AP, BYU's in a pretty good spot for an at-large NY6 bid.

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[UVACoug]

How do you figure?

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Here are the teams that would be in the NY6 bowls based on the current AP poll (not considering yesterday's games):

1. Alabama (AP1) (Playoff)
2. Notre Dame (AP2) (Playoff)
3. Ohio State (AP3) (Playoff)
4. Clemson (AP4) (Playoff)
5. Texas A&M (AP5) (SEC)
6. Cincinnati (AP7) (G5)
7. Indiana (AP9) (Big Ten)
8. Oregon (AP11) (P12)
9. Miami (AP12) (ACC)
10. Oklahoma State (AP14) (Big 12)
11. Florida (AP6) (At Large #1)
12. BYU (AP8) (At Large #2)

Based on the games yesterday, I think it's safe to assume that Northwestern* and Oklahoma take the spots of Indiana and Oklahoma State as the best available Big Ten and Big 12 teams. With that adjustment, the NY6 teams would be:

1. Alabama (AP1) (Playoff)
2. Notre Dame (AP2) (Playoff)
3. Ohio State (AP3) (Playoff)
4. Clemson (AP4) (Playoff)
5. Texas A&M (AP5) (SEC)
6. Cincinnati (AP7) (G5)
7. Northwestern (Big Ten)
8. Oregon (AP11) (P12)
9. Miami (AP12) (ACC)
10. Oklahoma (Big 12)
11. Florida (AP6) (At Large #1)
12. BYU (AP8) (At Large #2)

The Bowls would be:

Rose (Playoff): Alabama v. Clemson
Sugar (Playoff): Notre Dame v. Ohio State
Orange (Contracted to ACC v. highest available from SEC, Big Ten, or ND): Miami v. Texas A&M
Peach: Florida v. Oregon
Cotton: Oklahoma v. Northwestern
Fiesta: BYU v. Cincinnati

The Peach, Cotton, and Fiesta Bowl teams are selected by the CFP committee based on things like geography, competitiveness, and entertainment value.

If any team that is not on the list of NY6 teams gets ranked ahead of BYU, BYU loses the last At Large spot and is left out. Teams that are currently ranked in the Top 25 that I could see the CFP committee rank higher than BYU would be:

Indiana (4-1)
Wisconsin (2-1)
Georgia (5-2)
Iowa State (6-2)
Oklahoma State (4-2)
USC (3-0)
Texas (5-2)
Auburn (5-2)

There's also a couple unranked Pac12 teams that are currently undefeated that could leapfrog BYU, like Washington (2-0) and Colorado (2-0).

If any of these teams win out, I would not be surprised to see them leap frog BYU in the final CFP poll. I think that's especially true of perennial favorites like: Georgia, USC, Texas, Auburn, and Wisconsin. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if one of those teams was ranked ahead of BYU in the initial CFP poll that comes out on Tuesday. Teams that are unlikely to play in their conference championship games are particularly dangerous. Those would be: Georgia, Auburn, Texas, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Wisconsin, any of the Pac12 teams.

Obviously some of these teams will lose before the end of the season, but there's also a really good chance that there is a 1 or 2 loss team from a P5 conference at the end of the season that the CFP committee will be tempted to place ahead of BYU. And given the makeup of the committee (10/12 members closely tied to P5 conferences), I think the odds are that they will succumb to that temptation.

*I was wrong about Northwestern's win being a big problem for BYU ... they wouldn't take an At Large spot, assuming they are the highest ranked BIG Ten team not in the playoff.

[Bo Diddley]

Giff Nielsen deserves most of the credit. He convinced Jim to come to Provo when all the former AA QBs were honored when Sark came to Provo as HC of UW. Jim thought the fans would boo him. Giff promised that they’d go nuts for him. They did, and that was the start of the reconciliation.

I'm so glad i was able to be there for this and go nuts for Jimbo. #GiveThanks

[Green Monstah]

I will always appreciate Tom for his work in the Jimmy Mac-BYU reconciliation. I love seeing him in stuff like this.

I'm all in.

Giff Nielsen deserves most of the credit. He convinced Jim to come to Provo when all the former AA QBs were honored when Sark came to Provo as HC of UW. Jim thought the fans would boo him. Giff promised that they’d go nuts for him. They did, and that was the start of the reconciliation.

[Pelado]

I hate to say it, but I think we have to add one or two good games to have any chance of even making a NY6 bowl. If the CFP poll mirrors the current AP poll, we’d be in the last at large spot for a NY6 spot. If we get jumped by a P5 team that isn’t leading their conference, we’re out. Northwestern beating Wisconsin today really hurt BYU’s chances. Northwestern is now 5-0 with 3 games left against Michigan State, Minnesota, and Illinois (all of which are terrible this year). There’s a very good chance Northwestern is undefeated going into the Big Ten Championship game. If that happens, I don’t see any way they don’t jump BYU. And if they play Ohio State close, they could stay ahead.

One of the SEC teams ahead of us losing would help, but Florida and A&M’s schedules are pretty easy going forward. I could also see the CFP board putting a two loss SEC team (like Georgia) ahead of us.

I think the odds are that BYU ends up in the Potato Bowl again, which would be a shame after this awesome season. If we can somehow get one or two additional regular season games on the schedule, maybe we can squeeze in, but they’d have to be really good ones. And it will be hard to get any good teams to play us. None of the P5 conferences (except the P12 ... with ridiculous terms) are allowing out of conference games. A game against Cincy would probably help, but seems unlikely.

How do you figure?

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[LiveCoug]

That was BCS, before NY6 was a thing.

Right, which means MORE likely now

[Flystripper]

That was BCS, before NY6 was a thing.

NY6 is based on the top 12 rankings. 1 G5 and 5 P5. There are 6 at large spots. There is a great chance BYU gets in.


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