A win on Saturday against No. 22 Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl (1:30 p.m., ABC) is too late to do anything for No. 12 BYU in 2025 College Football Playoff rankings, but it could mean everything for 2026.
Beating the Yellow Jackets would give the Cougars a 12-2 record and likely bump them up to a top 10 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll. With quarterback Bear Bachmeier leading the group of 2026 returners, which could also include running back LJ Martin, expecting a top 15 ranking for BYU leading into next season is more than reasonable.
In that scenario, the Cougars’ quest for residency among those programs who often get the ‘benefit of the doubt’ when it comes to the CFP selection committee would benefit greatly — no doubt about it.
As the last two seasons indicated, where BYU starts has much to do with where it finishes.
Following the Cougars’ 5-7 debut in the Big 12, they launched into 2024 being picked 13th in the conference and without a single vote in the preseason AP poll. It took four weeks of winning, including a 38-9 blowout of No. 13 Kansas State, to finally crack into the poll.
A month later, after beating Utah in Salt Lake City to get to 9-0, BYU climbed to No. 6 in the CFP rankings. However, stumbles against Kansas and Arizona State left BYU in a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 and out of playoff contention.
Still, the Cougars’ 36-14 win against No. 23 Colorado in the Alamo Bowl gave them a No. 13 final ranking in the AP Top 25 — a massive improvement from Athlon’s No. 68 preseason projection.
With quarterback Jake Retzlaff and a slew of players slated to return for this season, the Cougars anticipated a top 15 ranking to get started. However, after Retzlaff’s transfer to Tulane, BYU was left out of the preseason AP Top 25 altogether.
Starting as the first team outside of the poll, the climb wasn’t nearly as severe as 2024, but it was still a challenging hike. In time, and with eight straight wins, BYU passed 19 other teams and debuted at No. 7 in the first CFP poll.
However, a 29-7 loss on the road at No. 8 Texas Tech dropped the Cougars five spots in the CFP poll, and despite winning the next three games to qualify for the conference championship tilt, the they never returned to the top ten, which was required for a Playoff game.
BYU has only itself and Texas Tech to blame for its pair of defeats, but imagine if the Cougars had started the season in the same place where they ended last season — at 13 instead of 26. Eight straight wins would have had them ranked higher than No. 7 and better insulated to withstand the blow of a loss to another top 10 team.
This explains how No. 5 Ole Miss can lose at No. 9 Georgia and only drop from No. 5 to No. 8 in the CFP poll, or how No. 3 Oregon can lose at home to No. 7 Indiana and only slip to No. 8, or how No. 1 Ohio State can lose at No. 2 Indiana and only drop one spot, or how Alabama can lose three games and still remain in the top 10.
Membership has its privileges, and belonging to this elite country club requires elite poll position. This is where pre-and-early season polls do matter. Justified or not, the polls position teams and set the narrative.
When the season’s first CFP poll was released on Nov. 4, the top six teams mirrored the AP Top 25 that had been voted on two days before and both polls included the same teams in their respective top ten.
The best way for BYU to earn respect is by winning consistently, but the best way to earn a playoff spot is to be ranked high enough that the committee can’t find a rational reason to keep them out.
Beating Georgia Tech on Saturday is a great way to send out the seniors, but for those returning who have CFP aspirations for 2026, taking down the Yellow Jackets is the first step in that direction.
The Cougars’ quest for respect next year starts at the end of this year — Saturday at the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
