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BYU Football: Ranking the games in 2021

By Adam Gibby

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 22: Isaac Rex #83 of the Brigham Young Cougars and Gunner Romney #18 celebrate a touchdown against the Central Florida Knights at FAU Stadium on December 22, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
BOCA RATON, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 22: Isaac Rex #83 of the Brigham Young Cougars and Gunner Romney #18 celebrate a touchdown against the Central Florida Knights at FAU Stadium on December 22, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 18: Kedon Slovis #9 of the USC Trojans passes against the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter in the PAC 12 2020 Football Championship at United Airlines Field at the Coliseum on December 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 18: Kedon Slovis #9 of the USC Trojans passes against the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter in the PAC 12 2020 Football Championship at United Airlines Field at the Coliseum on December 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

No. 3 USC

The fact that USC is No. 3 on this list tells you how great the schedule is. Out of all the preseason polls coming out, USC seems to be projected in the 12-15 range. Since 2009, the Trojans have finished higher than preseason rank only three times despite being ranked preseason all 12 seasons. In other words, it is more likely that USC will be in the 20-25 range by the end of the season.

If BYU makes it through the season without many bumps or bruises in the win/loss column, this game could have the potential to launch BYU into the New York Six discussion. Even with a loss earlier in the season, a 11-1 BYU with six P5 wins + Boise State would get the national attention.

USC will also likely have their guard down a bit as this game doesn’t matter as much to them. At that point, the Pac 12 South will have already been finalized. If USC is in the Pac 12 Championship, don’t be shocked if the Cougars get an early big lead (that they hopefully don’t lose in the 4th quarter). If USC is out of the Championship game, unless they are a one loss team, this game also won’t have much impact on their postseason play.

The problem with this game however is that there is also a good chance that this game will not matter to BYU. If the Cougars come into this game with two or more losses, outside of playing for pride, they will be going to Shreveport for their bowl game whether they win or not.

This is the one game that could be No. 1 depending on how the rest of the season shakes out.

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