College football expert marks BYU football's roadmap to the College Football Playoff

At the Big 12 Football Media Days, BYU Sports Nation gave Dusty Dvoracek a microphone and a chance to speak on his outlook for BYU football in 2026.

The way he sees it, the Cougars are built for success after two consecutive double-digit win seasons, and their resume could finally be offered some margin for error if they can win one game on their schedule.

"That Notre Dame game," Dvoracek opened.

"That's one of my favorite games in college football this year. Notre Dame will have not been tested until that point. I think there's a real chance they'll both be undefeated. That'll be a top-10 matchup in Provo. That's a tough place to play. What an opportunity for htat team."

"You win that game, I don't want to say you've got room for error, but you don't have to win the Big 12 at that point. They didn't have that game last year on their resume."

That's the hangup -- BYU managed to go 11-1 through their Big 12 schedule last season, with wins over top-25 Utah and Arizona and just one loss to the College Football Playoff lock Texas Tech, yet the Cougars were the second team to miss the cut when the 12-team format was decided.

"How do they get over the hump? How do they win the Big 12 Championship? How do they make the College Football Playoff? I don't think there are any wholesale changes -- they are knocking on the door."

"I think you just stay the course. You won 23 games over the last two seasons. [...] They are on track."

I'm inclined to agree with his sentiment. The Cougs managed to return nearly every major contributor from last season's team (excepting the wide receiver room, which is missing three of the top four performers from last year) both on offense and on defense. If last season's team was right at the border, this year's team must hit that extra gear in '26.

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