On Friday night during the first quarter of the rivalry football game between Arizona and Arizona State, Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark was interviewed on the Fox broadcast, and he used the opportunity to lobby for BYU’s inclusion in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
After being asked a few questions about the environment at Arizona State for the game and the overall strength of the Big 12, the interview was going to end when Yormark asked, “Got anything on the CFP?”
From there, Yormark said, “If you would’ve told me a couple of months ago we’d have three (teams) in the top 13, I would’ve taken it, and I’m thrilled where this conference is going.”
He then went on to say that Texas Tech should be a “shoo-in” for the CFP and that Utah “should get strong consideration.” It was about BYU, though, that Yormark got particularly animated.
“I think they’ve been under appreciated all season long. When you compare them to a Notre Dame, there is no comparison when you think of strength of record, strength of schedule and win-loss, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in the CFP selection committee. I’m sure they’ll get it right by the end of the season.”
Texas Tech is No. 5 in the latest CFP rankings, Notre Dame is No. 9 and BYU and Utah are Nos. 11 and 13, respectively. If those rankings were to hold, BYU would be the first team left out of the playoff.
Earlier this week, The Athletic’s David Ubben conducted an exercise in which he was given blind resumes for seven bubble teams, and he had to determine which three would get into the playoff and which four would be left out.
In examining various metrics, Ubben determined that Alabama (ranked No. 10), Oklahoma (No. 8) and BYU should get in, while Utah, Miami (No. 12), Notre Dame (No. 9) and Vanderbilt (No. 14) should be left out.
Of “Team E,” as BYU was identified in the exercise, Ubben wrote, “It only has one loss and has a decent strength of schedule..., a strong strength of record and a strong opponent win percentage, making it the best candidate among the four candidates for the final spot.”