BYU Football confirms Top-20 matchup with undefeated Coastal Carolina
Athletic director Tom Holmoe announced Thursday that No. 8 BYU will travel to No. 14 Coastal Carolina in a battle of undefeated teams on Saturday, Dec. 5. The Chanticleers and Cougars are both 9-0 and ranked in the Top 20 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
“We’re grateful that this game between our two teams could be put together in such a timely fashion,” Holmoe said. “It’s good to have a partner like ESPN that can help put together such a meaningful game at this point of the season.”
ESPN’s College Gameday will be on site for the matchup, and the game will be broadcast from Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. MST on ESPNU. Five thousand fans will be in attendance on Saturday.
Coastal Carolina was originally scheduled to host Liberty on Saturday, but COVID-related issues prevented Liberty from playing.
The Chanticleers are in first place in the Sun Belt Conference coming off of a 49-14 win last week against Texas State, who BYU defeated 52-14 earlier this season. BYU and Coastal Carolina are two of only three 9-0 teams in the nation.
The announcement comes at an opportune moment for the Cougars as they seek to add strength to their schedule in hopes that the College Football Playoff committee will take note and bump them into the Top 12 and hopefully a New Years Six Bowl. BYU currently sits at No. 13 in the rankings and Coastal Carolina at No. 18.
National college football writer Stewart Mandel of The Athletic says a win for BYU this weekend would all but guarantee the Cougars a spot in a NY6 Bowl.
“If BYU wins, and beats SDSU, they will definitely make NY6,” Mandel said on Twitter. “Who knows, maybe the committee will even move them above Georgia (at No. 8).”
The addition of Coastal Carolina gets BYU’s schedule up to 11 games, with a game against San Diego State in Provo on Dec. 12. Head coach Kalani Sitake said the team is prepared to play 12 games and mentioned the possibility of playing on Dec. 19 as well.
