BYU Football: Yes, preseason polls matter and here’s why
By Adam Gibby
Access to the CFP and NY6 Bowls
This is the most obvious reason why preseason polls need to go away. Let’s say that Texas (19) and BYU (NR) both lose at Baylor by the exact same margin. Texas has the upper hand in still making it to a NY6 or the College Football Playoff because of nothing other than a higher preseason ranking.
Yes, I know schedules will be different going forward and everything, but for the sake of this argument, BYU has to do something better than Texas in order to be ranked higher than them. Texas on the other hand can probably lose a game and still be around where BYU is at.
How is this fair? How is it fair that BYU, who actually plays a tougher schedule than Texas, has to win more games than Texas to have access to big bowl games and high rankings? What about Coastal Carolina? BYU definitely has a tougher schedule than the Chanticleers, yet I’m not sure if they would be ranked higher than them if both went 12-0.
As another example let’s go back to Minnesota. In 2019 when the Gophers finally made it No. 20 in the rankings, Texas had two losses. Guess what, they were still ranked higher than Minnesota. While they were “good” losses, the fact remains the same, Minnesota had a much tougher path to a major bowl game. If Minnesota lost one game between week one and eight their New Year Six hopes would have been gone, meanwhile Texas who had two losses and no great wins was still in a good spot to make a NY6.