BYU Football Moves Up to No. 6 in the CFP Top 25

BYU safety Faletau Satuala warms up before the Utah game
BYU safety Faletau Satuala warms up before the Utah game / BYU Photo
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On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff (CFP) committee unveiled the second CFP rankings of the 2024 season. While the AP Poll and Coaches poll are mostly for show, the CFP rankings are not. The CFP rankings determine the times that will qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff at the end of the season.

BYU, who is 9-0 and in first place in the Big 12, improved from no. 9 to no. 6 in the CFP rankings following a win over Utah. If the season ended today, BYU would be in the College Football Playoff as the 3-seed. Last week, BYU's ranking would have made them the 4-seed. Since projected ACC champion Miami lost, however, the Cougars moved ahead of the Hurricanes in the CFP rankings.

Two other Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 25: Colorado (17) and Kansas State (16). BYU has two wins over teams ranked inside the CFP top 20. SMU is ranked no. 14 and Kansas State is ranked no. 16. Below is the second edition of the CFP rankings.

  1. Oregon
  2. Ohio State
  3. Texas
  4. Penn State
  5. Indiana
  6. BYU
  7. Tennessee
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Miami
  10. Alabama
  11. Ole Miss
  12. Georgia
  13. Boise State
  14. SMU
  15. Texas A&M
  16. Kansas State
  17. Colorado
  18. Washington State
  19. Louisville
  20. Clemson
  21. South Carolina
  22. LSU
  23. Missouri
  24. Army
  25. Tulane

Here are a few instant takeaways from the rankings:

The committee showed BYU some respect this week. It was expected that BYU would surpass Miami and Georgia since those two teams lost. Surpassing Tennessee, however, was the surprise of the evening. The Vols were ranked ahead of BYU in the rankings last week. Tennessee didn't lose, but the committee valued BYU's resume over Tennessee's.

Perhaps most noteworthy is that there's now some buffer between BYU and Boise State. At this point, it looks like BYU would earn a top-four seed if they win the Big 12, even if they lose a game over the next few weeks.

Alabama blew out LSU last weekend. It's nice to see the committee respecting the value of wins and loses and maintaining some distance between the undefeated teams the the teams with losses - even if they pass the eye test.

Miami stayed in the top 10 even though they lost to Georgia Tech. That's encouraging to see for BYU. It leaves some room for hope even if BYU drops a game in November.


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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.