BYU football: Final conference rankings and why they matter
By Adam Gibby
Upper Tier
5. Big 12
Record: 5-3
Summary: The Big 12 did pretty well this season and in the bowl season. TCU had a nice win over Stanford and Kansas State took advantage of a UCLA team without star quarterback Josh Rosen. The Big 12 just did what they were supposed to do for the most part. Losses by Oklahoma to Georgia in the Rose Bowl and West Virginia losing to Utah were negative marks for the conference, although the Rose Bowl was the most entertaining game of the bowl season.
What it means for BYU football: Sadly, this season, the Big 12 showed that it did not need to expand to do well – at least for now. Even with Baylor not going to a bowl game, the conference finished very well. They did not lose any bad bowl games and they got a team in the playoff despite only having ten teams in the conference.
4. Sun Belt Conference
Record 4-1
Summary: I really wanted to put this conference higher on the list because of all they accomplished this season. Troy, the team who beat LSU earlier this season, took down North Texas by 20 points. Georgia State won its first bowl game ever and New Mexico State won its first bowl game in over 50 years. This was a great bowl season for this conference. They just didn’t play any noteworthy opponents in the postseason.
What this means for BYU football: This conference has slowly been getting better and better as well. I would still say this is a step down from the C-USA and MWC, but again if the Cougars need to find a conference, this would not be the worst option.
3. AAC (American Athletic Conference)
Record: 4-3
Summary: The UCF Knights are National Champions! At least according to them and four AP voters. The Knights showed that they deserved to be in the playoff discussion and that perhaps the playoff should expand to eight teams. South Florida also had a great win over Texas Tech. Navy dominated ACC’s Virginia 49-7 in the military bowl. The only downside to this conference was Houston and Memphis both losing their bowl games to teams that would have made the conference look really good.
What this means for BYU football: In my personal opinion, if BYU is given the opportunity to join this conference they should. I realize that Scott Frost is leaving to Nebraska, but this conference is going to remain very good. They already have the nickname “Power 6” and adding BYU may just make that a reality, especially if a second team like Boise State is added.