Too Optimistic Tuesday: Yes, ESPN and the AP Poll are shamefully biased, but BYU will crash their party

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.

ESPN and the AP Poll are blatantly biased toward the SEC

Perhaps I just live in a social media echo chamber that feeds me a steady dose of pro-BYU, anti-SEC propaganda, but the outrage at this week's AP Poll and ESPN's coverage of the Top 25 rankings is deafening.

First, No. 21 Florida (an SEC team) obliterated No. 4 Ole Miss (another SEC team) by a final score of 52-28, and somehow both teams benefitted. Florida jumped 13 spots to No. 8 in the AP Poll, meaning BYU fell from No. 9 to No. 10 during its bye. Ole Miss, on the other hand, somehow only fell five spots to No. 9. Both teams are now in line to make a 12-team College Football Playoff, despite Ole Miss getting its doors blown off.

Last year when Texas Tech put a similar hurting on BYU, most of the national pundits dismissed the Cougars as a good story, but not a College Football Playoff caliber team. But when Ole Miss gets outclassed, they remain a Top 10 team. Oh, to be in the SEC.

And somehow Missouri, another SEC team, is ranked No. 25 this week after starting their season 3-0 with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kansas, and Troy before falling this past week to No. 24 Mississippi State. There are at least half a dozen teams that deserve a No. 25 ranking over Missouri, but, you know, SEC.

Now throw in the pro-SEC, anti-BYU bias from ESPN and the Cougars have their work cut out for themselves this year. Just take a look at this nugget from ESPN about the bar the Cougars will need to clear to get into the College Football Playoffs:

In other words, the narrative ESPN is already concocting to keep BYU out of the CFP is this:

If BYU goes 11-1 with their only loss to Notre Dame, then suffers a "second loss" in the Big 12 title game, they are not worthy of the College Football Playoffs.

This is patently absurd. Alabama wasn't punished for an "additional loss" in last year's SEC championship game after getting manhandled 28-7 by Georgia, but BYU sure was for their second loss to Texas Tech. And ESPN is saying the Cougs will be similarly punished this year if they lose to a Top 5 Notre Dame squad, then fail to win the Big 12 conference title.

In short, BYU will never get a fair shot at the CFP in the current 12 team format unless they win the conference championship and therefore get an automatic bid, or unless they have an otherwise perfect season.

The reason for optimism: The Cougars are poised for crash the CFP party

But here at Too Optimistic Tuesday, we both acknowledge the difficulties of playing in a corrupt system, but also highlight the positives.

First off, 4-0 BYU is currently ranked No. 10. Last year the 4-0 Cougars had just eked their way into the polls at No. 25. The rest of the season was a brutal slog up the rankings and at least somewhat into the national discussion about CFP-worthy teams.

This year BYU is already a Top 10 team with a potentially program-altering matchup against No. 3 Notre Dame looming on October 17th. If both teams are undefeated going into that game, it's going to be insane. For years now the Cougars have tried in vain to prove they aren't just a "good Big 12 program", they're a national powerhouse.

Kalani Sitake's squad has the chance to prove just that against Notre Dame.

Throw in another big-time matchup against a potential Top 10 Utah team in early November -- credit where it's due and the Utes are looking that good -- and the Cougars have the ideal schedule in place to have an airtight CFP-worthy resume.

The Cougars control their own destiny.

Now, BYU will most definitely not get the grace Ole Miss was just shown in they lose 52-28 to the Irish. The Cougars won't be a Top 10 team like their SEC peers if they suffer a bad loss against Notre Dame.

Despite the pro-SEC bias with the AP Poll and at ESPN, BYU is a Top 10 team today.

The Cougars have a clear path to the College Football Playoffs, and they're going to deliver.

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