Another iteration of the College Football Playoff rankings are due to be revealed Tuesday night, but there’s at least one coach with a team in the running for an at-large berth who won’t be glued to his television screen or the internet around 7:30 p.m. MST.
That would be BYU coach Kalani Sitake, whose 9-1 team will probably still be behind a couple of two-loss teams in the CFP rankings, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, when they come out for the third of five times on Tuesday.
Sitting at No. 12 last week before routing three-loss TCU 44-13 Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, BYU is expected to jump to No. 11 on Tuesday, as No. 10 Texas was thumped by No. 5 Georgia. A No. 11 ranking wouldn’t get the Cougars into the 12-team playoffs if the season ended today.
In his weekly press briefing Monday, Sitake was asked a couple of times about BYU’s standing in the CFP rankings — the Cougars moved up to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 released Sunday — and whether he is frustrated by what is seen in some quarters as a snub.
“What I’m trying to keep the team focused on is the stuff that we can control. I know one thing, if we go out there and play at our best, I like our chances.”
— BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“When I say I don’t really pay attention to it, I (still) know it exists, guys,” Sitake said. “I am not dumb. I know all the stuff that’s out there. I know what people are saying and the metrics and the analytics and style points (matter) and all that stuff.
“My focus isn’t on that. I understand everything that’s out there,” Sitake continued. “I have to be focused on what we can control, which is playing football, and the preparation today. … So it’s nice that we’re in the mix and that people are recognizing what we have done. But what does that matter if we don’t go 1-0 this weekend?”
Another huge matchup awaits the Cougars (6-1, 9-1) this weekend, as they will face Cincinnati (5-2, 7-3) at Nippert Stadium at 6 p.m. MST Saturday. The Bearcats were in the top 25 before losing at Utah and then at home to Arizona the past three weeks.
The other teams with just two conference losses in the Big 12 — Utah, Arizona State and Houston — need Cincinnati to pull off the mild upset and create havoc in the conference standings. BYU, meanwhile, has its destiny in its own hands, which is why Sitake says the Cougars just have to win and not worry about anything else.
“What I’m trying to keep the team focused on is the stuff that we can control. I know one thing, if we go out there and play at our best, I like our chances,” he said. “I’m not gonna sit here and campaign and waste my energy on stuff that I can’t control.”
Sitake said he doesn’t know all the tiebreaker scenarios and whatnot that could happen if the Cougars stumble this week, or next week at home against UCF, to knock them out of sole possession of second place in the league and a berth in the conference championship game. Kickoff time for the game against the Knights was put on a six-day hold by the Big 12 on Monday and won’t be announced until Saturday or Sunday.
“If you take care of business and do things one step at a time, then things should work out in your favor,” Sitake said. “That’s what I’m banking on happening, and that’s what I want these guys to be focused on.
“It’s hard to talk about three weeks from now, when you can’t even control what you’re doing right now with everybody else. Let’s just go play the game, be at our best, and then see what happens next week.”
Offensive lineman Bruce Mitchell, defensive end Viliami Po’uha and receiver JoJo Phillips also spoke to reporters Monday and repeated Sitake’s approach about style points, handling the unfavorable ranking, and all that entails.
“That’s the culture Kalani has set. Nobody’s too worried about style points. We just want to go win games, play BYU football along the way, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do,” Mitchell said.
For the third time this season, BYU will be a part of a pregame show on national television Saturday morning, as Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will be broadcast live from Cincinnati. Once again, the eyes of the nation will be upon the Cougars, and they are striving to ensure that there won’t be a repeat of the Texas Tech game, a loss that caused BYU to drop from No. 7 to No. 12 in the CFP rankings.
“I know about style points. I know what style points are. I (just) want to win. That’s the key,” Sitake said. “People look at the metrics. I mean, we were favored to (beat TCU) by three points. We won by a lot more than that. So I want to win, and I want to play at our best, and if we can control the game, great.
“Nothing’s easy. … So I understand all that stuff, and if people running up the score is what style is, I understand that whole concept. … You can’t sit there and claim the game before you actually play it. You got to play it for 60 minutes.”
More takeaways from Monday’s press briefing:
BYU relatively healthy in mid-November
Although offensive lineman Weylin Lapuaho and reserve linebacker Max Alford left Saturday’s 44-13 win over TCU and didn’t return, Sitake said the Cougars came out of the game fairly healthy. He said more will be divulged in Wednesday’s initial availability report, but acknowledged that “guys are still getting evaluated” on Monday.
Part-time starting receiver Cody Hagen did not play against the Horned Frogs, but otherwise BYU was close to full strength.
“We got some guys that were kind of banged up a little bit, but we’ll be fine,” Sitake said. “Everybody’s in the same situation where everybody’s sore. … At the end of the year, (guys) are running on fumes. That’s why you have to depend on your depth. And so we’ve been through this. We’ve prepped for it. We want all our guys to be ready to go. But if guys aren’t able to perform, the next guy will have to step up and make it work.”
Bear Bachmeier continues to impress
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier was named the Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after completing 23 of 33 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown against TCU. Sitake said the coaching staff will continue to “open the playbook” for the freshman, whom the coach doesn’t really consider a freshman anymore.
“We kind of got through this transition of bringing him along and now that we’re in this position, we can really do whatever we want,” Sitake said. “… We can think differently going into Game 11 than we could going into Game 1, even though it was an FCS opponent (Portland State).”
Bachmeier had tied BYU’s single-season record for quarterback rushing touchdowns, with 10.
Also Monday, kicker Will Ferrin was named the Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Week after kicking three field goals, including a long of 52. And BYU’s defensive line won the Big 12’s Defensive Line of the Week award after sacking TCU QB Josh Hoover three times. A cornerback, Evan Johnson, also sacked Hoover on a corner blitz.
