BYU’s trip to Salt Lake City probably won’t bury the Cougars in the College Football Playoff rankings, but Tuesday night still has the feel of a stress test.
The Cougars were No. 9 when they walked into No. 3 Utah and came out with a 28-20 loss.
On paper, that kind of one-score defeat on the road should be survivable. In practice, BYU has learned not to assume the committee will treat it that way.
The next rankings drop comes around 9:00pm ET Tuesday night, and that’s when BYU will find out how much damage, if any, was done.
There’s a reason the fan base is uneasy. Last season offered a harsh preview of how quickly things can unravel.
BYU went to Lubbock ranked No. 7 and got hammered by Texas Tech, 29-7. The fallout was immediate: the Cougars tumbled to No. 12 in the next rankings.
That slide proved costly. Even after winning their final three regular-season games, BYU never climbed higher than 11th before losing the Big 12 title game to Texas Tech again.
They finished two spots shy of the playoff field.
This year started with a little more cushion. BYU beat Notre Dame, which gave the Cougars some breathing room they didn’t have a year ago. But that margin disappeared fast when they followed it up with an unexpected loss to UCF the next week.
Notre Dame’s situation matters in the bigger picture, too. The Irish get an automatic Playoff berth if they finish in the top 12, and that looks safe after their win over No.
1 Miami. The source projects Notre Dame should be no lower than sixth.
The other automatic path belongs to the highest-ranked Group of 6 team, and right now Boise State is the only Group of 6 team in the rankings. If that team ends up outside the top 12, it would become a bid stealer and squeeze someone on the bubble, just like last season.
As for the teams sitting around BYU, the board is messy. No.
10 Ole Miss was blasted by No. 2 Georgia, 42-7, and should slide several places.
No. 11 Notre Dame’s win over Miami should push it past BYU.
No. 12 Ohio State lost by multiple scores at home to Oregon.
Then there’s No. 13 Tennessee, which rolled past No.
8 Kentucky and figures to climb. Kentucky, meanwhile, probably won’t get hit too hard for losing at Rocky Top.
No. 14 LSU also lost, falling to No.
5 Alabama.
That’s where the real uncertainty comes in for BYU. Kentucky’s fate is one of the biggest swing points, since the Wildcats are in a similar spot but took a bigger loss to a lower-ranked opponent than BYU did against Utah.
Oregon is another wild card. The Ducks started the week at No. 23, and the committee would have to decide whether a road win at Ohio State is enough to launch them all the way over BYU.
That would be a huge leap.
For now, the most reasonable guess is that Kentucky drops more than BYU, Notre Dame and Tennessee move ahead of the Cougars, and Oregon settles just behind them. BYU also gets a bit of help from the fact that three of the five teams directly behind them also lost.
In Other News...
BYU Could Be Getting Two Key Starters Back At The Right Time
BYUs depth chart for the Baylor game offered a welcome bit of movement, with running back LJ Martin and cornerback Evan Johnson both appearing for the first time since injuries knocked them out. Martin already eased back in last week with limited touches, and his presence now points to a bigger workload as the Cougars try to settle back into a rhythm on offense. Johnsons return to the chart is just as notable on the other side of the ball, especially after he missed the last two games.
There is still some uncertainty layered into the update, though, because tight end Roger Saleapaga is also listed despite his recent injury. For BYU, the timing matters as much as the names themselves, with the Cougars heading into a matchup where reinforcements at key spots could help stabilize both the ground game and the secondary. The only question now is how much each player can actually handle once the game starts. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Became Part Of A Brutal Utah Milestone
BYUs latest trip through the rivalry left it on the wrong side of a significant Utah moment, as the Utes moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 after beating the Cougars. It is the highest ranking in Utah program history, and it comes with the kind of momentum that can reshape a season in a hurry, especially when the team at the center of it is still trying to keep its focus on the week-to-week grind.
Morgan Scalley said the message inside the Utah program remains the same: treat every opponent the same and keep working on the parts of the game that still need cleaning up. The next test is a road date with No. 22 Arizona, which gives the Utes another ranked matchup and another chance to prove this climb is about more than one big win over BYU. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Freshman Bruce Branch Is Drawing An AJ Dybantsa Question
Kevin Youngs ability to land elite talent has already changed the conversation around BYU mens basketball, and the latest name drawing attention is freshman Bruce Branch III. Branch, a top prospect who reclassified to 2026, has started to show more in recent games, and Young has pointed to the kind of defensive upside that can make a young player valuable long before the offense fully catches up.
The comparison naturally brings up AJ Dybantsa, the one-and-done star BYU secured in December 2024 before he went on to lead the nation in scoring and become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Young has even described Branchs style in similar terms, which only adds to the intrigue around how he develops the freshman early and how quickly that progress might show up in a BYU rotation built around high-end recruits. [Read more 🡒]