Welcome to Too Optimistic Tuesday! This weekly column reminds BYU fans why they should count their many blessings and have an abundance of hope.
Every season in every sport is full of both ups and downs. This column will amplify the "ups" and help fans quickly recover from the "downs". So put on your blue-tinted goggles and just indulge me in some hyperbole while enjoying your BYU fandom for a moment.
BYU can still win the Big 12
While BYU's loss to Utah stings, all is not lost, Cougar fans.
There are still dozens of things that can happen over the last three weeks of the season that can wind up with Kalani Sitake's squad making the 12-team College Football Playoffs.
At 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12, BYU can still reach -- and win -- the Big 12 championship and secure an automatic bid to the playoffs. Undefeated Utah sits atop the conference rankings at 6-0 in Big 12 play and Texas Tech sits alone in second at 5-1. If the Utes and the Red Raiders both run the table from here, then those two teams will square off for the Big 12 title.
Below Utah and Texas Tech is a jumble of 4-2 teams including BYU, Houston, Arizona, Baylor, and Oklahoma State.
While it's probably safe to put Utah in the conference championship game, Texas Tech could stumble. The Red Raiders face Oklahoma State and Baylor among the 4-2 teams, plus a TCU team with a feisty defense. This year's Texas Tech team has been really, really good this year, but far from the dominant squad they were next year.
Who knows what the final records will be among BYU, Texas Tech, Houston, Arizona, Baylor, and Arizona State. But with the dozens and dozens of potential outcomes of the remaining games each of these teams plays, there are many permutations that could ultimately produce the result Cougar fans want.
And until BYU has been mathematically eliminated from the Big 12 championship game, then there's still a chance they win the conference and get an automatic bid to the CFP.
BYU can still secure an at-large bid to the CFP
If BYU doesn't qualify for the Big 12 Championship Game, the Cougs can still, in theory, secure an at-large bid if things fortuitously break their way.
Now, as BYU fans, we are deservedly skeptical that the pro-SEC CFP selection committee will do Kalani Sitake's program any favors when it comes to ranking them in the Top 10 (assuming Notre Dame makes the playoffs) or the Top 11 (if the Irish stumble). But there's still an outside possibility the Cougars get an at-large bid.
Updated CFP rankings will come out later today. BYU was No. 9 before losing to No. 3 Utah, so they shouldn't drop too far out from the Top 10-11 ranking they need.
Let's say BYU gets punished beyond what their equivalent SEC peer would be after losing to the No. 3 team and falls to No. 14 in this week's CFP rankings. Assuming Notre Dame makes the playoffs, BYU would need to go undefeated from here then hope for losses from the teams immediately ahead of them.
And with the week-in, week-out chaos of this year's college football season, at least some of the teams ranked ahead of BYU should lose over the next three weeks.
There's still a chance BYU secures an at-large bid.
All is not lost, Cougar fans.
There are still plenty of ways a 10-2 BYU team can reach the College Football Playoffs.
Let's choose to be optimists.
Add us as a preferred source on Google