S
scott715All our goals (except beating Utah) are still in front of us. Before the season started making the playoff or a NY6 bowl game was an extremely unlikely proposition for BYU. That hasn't changed, and it isn't completely dead. If you look at what the playoff committee values BYU could still make the playoff or a NY6 game with a lot of help. The committee likes to see a great record with a quality strength of schedule. They also like to see a good record vs. their top 25, and they give conference champions preferential treatment. Our SOS can still be very good. There are a few teams that could be in the committee's final top 25. While we can't win a conference championship we could potentially beat other conference champions.
In my opinion, to make the playoff BYU needs to finish 11-1, beat 4 of the committee's top 25, and beat 2 P5 conference champions. If we give Boise their only loss in our game at Boise, beat B1G champ MSU, beat Big 12 champ WVA and beat a quality UCLA team who finishes in the final top 25, that would be a pretty compelling playoff resume for BYU. If MSU or WVA do not win their conference but are legit top 25 teams, then BYU would have a decent shot at a NY6 bowl.
Once again, this scenario is not at all probable, but it is worth rooting for.
The goals for BYU are:
1. To win the National Championship
2. To go to a NY6 bowl game
3. To achieve the highest ranking possible
4. To be bowl eligible and play the best bowl team possible
5. To win as many games as possible
6. To get into the Big 12
7. To be better than Utah
If you want to see these goals accomplished here is your rooting guide:
A. Cheer for BYU. Duh.
BYU (1-1) over UCLA (1-1)
B. Cheer for the team playing Utah. Because there is no reason to cheer for Utah
San Jose St. (1-1) over Utah (2-0)
C. Cheer for BYUâs opponents. This helps SOS.
Arizona (1-1) over Hawaii (1-2)
Toledo (2-0) over Fresno State (1-1)
#12 Michigan State (1-0) over#18 Notre Dame (1-1)
Mississippi State (1-1) over #20 LSU (1-1)
Cincinnati (2-0) over #6 Houston (2-0)
UMass (0-2) over Florida International (0-2)
Utah State (1-1) over Arkansas State (0-2)
D. Cheer for teams playing teams ranked ahead of BYU. Cheer for unranked teams vs. ranked teams. If both teams are ranked ahead of BYU cheer for the higher ranked (Of course rules A-C trump rule D).
#1 Alabama over #19 Ole Miss
#2 Florida St. over #10 Louisville
#3 Ohio St. over #14 Oklahoma
# 4 Michigan over Colorado (CU is in others receiving votes)
South Carolina St. over #5 Clemson
USC over #7 Stanford
Portland St. over #8 Washington
Georgia St. over #9 Wisconsin
Cal over #11 Texas
North Dakota St. over #13 Iowa
Ohio over #15 Tennessee
Missouri over #16 Georgia
#17 Texas A&M over Auburn (Auburn is in others receiving votes)
Rice over #21 Baylor
Nebraska over #22 Oregon (an Oregon loss can give us potentially more votes than a Nebraska loss)
North Texas over #23 Florida
Texas St. over #24 Arkansas
Appalachian St. over #25 Miami
E. Cheer for teams playing potential programs that could get into the Big 12 over BYU (Unless it violates rules A-D)
Virginia over UConn
Syracuse over USF
Maryland over Central Florida
F. Cheer for our Opponentsâ opponents unless they are playing our opponents. This helps our SOS in virtually every SOS calculation. The more connected a team is to our opponents the more you should cheer for them (unless it violates rules A-E). For example, Oregon St. is the most connected team to our opponents as they play 4 games against them (UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Boise St.). The number by the team indicates how connected they are. If the numbers are equal take the team who has lost or will most likely lose to our opponents.
Oregon St. (4) over Idaho St.
Arizona St. (3) over Texas San Antonio
Washington St (3) over Idaho
New Mexico (2) over Rutgers
South Carolina (2) over East Carolina
UNLV (2) over Central Michigan
Wyoming (2) over UC Davis
Akron over Marshall
Ball St. over Eastern Kentucky
Boston College over Virginia Tech
Bowling Green over MTSU
Colorado St. over Northern Colorado
Duke over Northwestern
Eastern Michigan over Charlotte
Iowa St. over TCU
Kansas St. over Florida Atlantic
Kentucky over New Mexico St.
Louisiana Tech over Texas Tech
Louisiana Lafayette over South Alabama
Memphis over Kansas
Miami (OH) over Western Kentucky
Nevada over Buffalo
Northern Illinois over San Diego St.
Oklahoma St. over Pitt
Old Dominion over NC St.
Temple over Penn St.
Troy over Southern Miss
Tulane over Navy
Tulsa over North Carolina A&T
Western Michigan over Illinois
G. Cheer for the FCS team. Because it is fun (unless it violates rules A-F)
Delaware over Wake Forest
James Madison over North Carolina
Liberty over SMU
Monmouth over Kent St.
H. It really doesn't matter:
Army vs. UTEP
Louisiana Monroe vs. Georgia Southern
Vanderbilt vs. Georgia Tech