Updated SP+ Rankings: BYU in Top 25
BYU quickly turned a primetime game into a lopsided affair on Labor Day. The Cougars dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball. At the end of the first half, BYU had 17 first downs to Navy's 2 first downs. The Cougars had 304 yards on offense, the Midshipmen only had 48. BYU was preparing to take on Army next week until a "a small number of positive COVID-19 test results" postponed the highly-anticipated matchup.
Without a game on the near horizon, we'll be tracking the national polls and ranking systems to see where BYU lands. First, let's look at ESPN's SP+ rankings. What is SP+? "In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency." I've included more information about SP+ below. Without further ado, here is the S&P+ top 25:
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Texas
- Auburn
- Texas A&M
- LSU
- Notre Dame
- North Carolina
- Miami
- Tennessee
- UCF
- Pittsburgh
- Kentucky
- Oklahoma State
- Louisville
- Baylor
- Memphis
- BYU
- Cincinnati
- Virginia Tech
- South Carolina
- Ole Miss
BYU is one of seven teams to move up 10 spots or more this season - BYU was ranked 33rd in the original SP+ rankings.
For further details on the SP+ rankings, here's an explanation from Bill Connelly:
"I created the system at Football Outsiders in 2008, and as my experience with both college football and its stats has grown, I have made quite a few tweaks to the system. SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. That is important to remember. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you're lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you're strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise."
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