One week away from the end of the regular season, and BYU football remains outside the final 12-team cut-off despite their 10-1 record, remarkable strength of schedule (and record), and quality win over another playoff hopeful in Utah.
All because the team lost a road game to the currently fifth-ranked Red Raiders of Texas Tech.
Greg Wrubell, the radio voice of the Cougars, took to X recently to voice his concern, and he didn't mince words when digging into the apparent inequalities facing the sport.
More I read “poor performance that raised some eyebrows,” more I’m annoyed. Most teams with a loss (or two) would concede that they had a poor performance in those games.
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) November 23, 2025
10-1 in a power conference should speak for itself. Give credit where it’s due, college football experts. https://t.co/CkelFm3JmJ
"Give credit where it's due," he pleads with the experts overseeing this season of college football.
According to ESPN's playoff ranking projections, BYU's lone defeat was brutal enough to keep the Cougars locked out of the at-large window for good. Per my estimation, and apparently Wrubell's, this mindset is both inconsistent and entirely unfair for the Big 12's at-large chances.
BYU's treatment is completely inconsistent
Despite owning the most wins against bowl-eligible teams in the nation, Kalani Sitake's crew remain on the outside looking in. Call it anchoring bias for a team that began the year unranked, call it prestige privilege for programs like Alabama, Oregon, and Notre Dame who all stand between BYU and a chance to dance in spite of inferior resumes.
Per the experts, the most 'eyebrow-raising' result on the Cougars' schedule was a 22-point loss on the road against a playoff lock. Ignoring a win against 12th-ranked Utah (pending a change in Tuesday's order), road wins against potential AAC champion East Carolina, Iowa State, Arizona, and Cincinnati (all postseason-bound), and a 21-3 record carrying over from last season, the selection committee has deemed the Cougars unfit to breach the bracket in their current state.
Ignoring strength of schedule and strength of record -- metrics created and used by ESPN, the very site criticizing BYU for its apparent weakness -- the Big 12's manufactured reputation as an inferior league is bleeding into BYU's resume.
The sticking point is the loss to Texas Tech. Admittedly, the Cougars did not look great in Lubbock on offense nor special teams (the defense actually fared far better than any other road victim of the Red Raiders this season, though, not that the 'experts' would care to point that out), but then what's the catch with Oklahoma and Alabama?
The Sooners and Crimson Tide both carry the weight of humiliating losses suffered earlier in the season.
For OU, it was a 23-6 loss to Texas, where the Sooner offense couldn't even manage to reach the end zone on a neutral field.
For Alabama, it's the worst loss of any current playoff team: a 31-17 blowout at the hands of a five-win Florida State.
Both teams -- ranked 7th and 10th respectively -- have two losses on their record. BYU only has one, and that loss was against a team that may even crack the top four and earn a bye this season. Yes, even as a Big 12 team.
You may have preconceived notions about what a BYU football team can or cannot do. Historically, sure, the program hasn't truly competed for a national championship since the early 2000's, and is in just its third season in a power conference. But the beauty of sports is that teams get to prove to one another who's better by posting their worth on the scoreboard.
Notre Dame, Alabama, and Oklahoma have all shown who they were this season, each of them stained with two losses. If a team like BYU can't be ranked in the top 10 with just one loss compared to their resume, the selection committee is making a clear statement: they, and they alone, wield the power to control the sport of college football. Wins and losses don't matter; brands and prestige do.
If BYU sticks to the script and finishes with an 11-2 record, with both losses arriving at the hands of top-five Texas Tech, they will possess the merit of a playoff team. It's up to the powerful voices at the top to open the gate, however, and early returns suggest they're more than a little hesitant to do so.
The Big 12 Conference is strong enough for two playoff teams. Don't keep BYU out because they have the wrong patch on their shirts.