As Selection Sunday arrived, both Notre Dame and BYU found themselves on the outside looking in, each stunned to learn that they had been leapfrogged by Miami — and were the first teams left out of the College Football Playoff.
Inside the program, BYU players, coaches, and supporters have been adamant: the Cougars shouldn’t be “punished” for taking their second loss, 34-7, at the hands of No. 4 Texas Tech Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington, Texas.
But the CFP committee saw it differently.
Committee chair Hunter Yurachek joined ESPN’s selection show on Sunday, and when asked why Miami slid in while BYU slid out, he pointed directly to the title-game rematch.
“We felt like the way BYU performed in their championship game — a second loss to Texas Tech in a similar fashion — was worthy of Miami being ahead of them in the rankings,” Yurachek said.
In other words, what many suspected ended up being confirmed: BYU was penalized for playing in its conference championship.
There’s no denying the Cougars struggled, and Texas Tech is operating on a completely different level in terms of talent and résumé. But when you compare BYU and Miami head-to-head across the metrics that matter, the Cougars clearly outpace the Hurricanes.
| Metric | BYU | Miami |
|---|---|---|
| Strength of Schedule (SOS) | 22 | 45 |
| Strength of Record (SOR) | 9 | 14 |
| Ranked Wins | 1 (No. 23 Utah) | 2 (No. 6 ND, No. 22 Pitt) |
Not to mention, Alabama was also blown out 28-7 by Georgia in the SEC Championship on Saturday, yet remained in its original ranking at No. 9.
With how Notre Dame was knocked out, it came down to the head-to-head loss to Miami in the opening game of the year. Both teams, with 10–2 records, with similar strength of schedules and records, ultimately gave the Hurricanes the edge over the Fighting Irish.
So, that now leaves BYU with an appearance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida, facing Georgia Tech. Notre Dame received the original invite, but, like many are doing, they declined to play in the bowl as an act of protest to the committee.
College football now faces a much broader issue. We’ve entered an era with seemingly a million bowl games, most of which the general audience barely knows exist, and only the New Year’s Six involved with the CFP actually matter.
Look across the Big 12: Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, and UCF all declined bowl invitations this year. Iowa State and Kansas State are dealing with coaching departures, while Kansas and UCF, both 5–7, were invited to the Birmingham Bowl against Georgia Southern but turned it down.
But what about the seniors? The fringe NFL prospects who could use the extra tape? The pride of the universities themselves?
College football seems to be heading toward a major rebrand, as its biggest flaws are now impossible to ignore. As UCF coach Scott Frost put it earlier this week, “college football is broken,” at least in every way except financially.