PROVO, Utah — After finishing the regular season 10-2 with a win over Houston on Saturday, BYU was moved up one place to No. 18 in the fifth College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday by the CFP Selection Committee.
The Oregon Ducks (12-0), the lone unbeaten team in the country, remained at No. 1, followed by Texas (11-1), Penn State (11-1), Notre Dame (11-1) and Georgia (10-2) to complete the top five with previous No. 2 Ohio State (10-2) dropping to No. 6 after being upset by Michigan on Saturday. Tennessee (10-2) is No. 7, followed at No. 8 by SMU (11-1), a team BYU defeated 18-15 in Dallas earlier this year to give the Mustangs their lone loss of the season. Indiana (11-1) and Boise State (11-1) round out the top 10. Alabama (9-3) and Miami (10-2) are ranked No. 11 and No. 12, respectively.
The highest ranked Big 12 team is Arizona State (10-2) at No. 15, up one spot after a dominating win at Arizona in the Territorial Cup rivalry. Iowa State (10-2), who earned the four-way tiebreaker advancement to the BIg 12 Championship along with the Sun Devils, moved up two places to No. 16. After BYU at No. 18, Colorado was moved from No. 25 to No. 23 this week.
The first year of the 12-team playoff features the five highest-rated conference champions earning automatic berths. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and will receive a first-round bye. The fifth conference champion will be seeded where it was ranked or at No. 12 if it is outside the top 12 rankings. The eight teams seeded No. 5-12 will play in a first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution. Read more about the new CFP format.
Oregon from the Big Ten is projected as the top seed in the playoff, with the SEC's Texas and ACC's SMU as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, while No. 10-ranked Boise State of the Mountain West is projected as the next-highest conference champion in the No. 4 seed. View the entire CFP rankings from Tuesday.
BYU moved up two spots in both the major national polls released on Sunday after concluding the regular season with double-digit victories for the third time in the last five seasons, and 19th time overall in program history. After earning its 10th victory with a 30-18 win over Houston late Saturday night, the Cougars received a No. 17 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 and a No. 18 rating in the AFCA's US LBM Coaches Poll published by USA TODAY Sports.
In their second season in the Big 12, the Cougars (10-2) finished league play in a four-way tie atop the league standings at 7-2 along with Arizona State, Iowa State and Colorado after all four teams won on Saturday. Conference tiebreakers among the four teams ultimatley advanced the Sun Devils and the Cyclones as the two teams to meet in Saturday's Big 12 Championship game in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Noteworthy Success
In leading BYU to a third season with 10 or more victories in the last five years, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake was named AFCA Region 4 Coach of the Year. Sitake currently boasts the ninth-best winning percentage among FBS coaches with a 44-18 (.710) record since 2020. Only three FBS coaches have had more seasons with double-digit wins in that span, with Georgia's Kirby Smart, Ohio State's Ryan Day and Brian Kelly at Notre Dame and now LSU posting four seasons with 10 or more wins. In all, Sitake is one of eight active FBS head coaches with three seasons of 10-plus wins over the last five seasons, and one of five to do so at the same school.
BYU was just one of 18 schools among the 134 FBS teams to register double-digit victories in the 2024 regular season. The Big 12 touts three teams with 10 or more victories (Arizona State, BYU, Iowa State), tied with the SEC and behind just the Big Ten who produced four 10-win teams at the conclusion of the regular season.
During a 9-0 start to the season that saw the Cougars ranked as high as No. 6 in the CFP rankings, No. 7 by AP and No. 8 by coaches, BYU went 6-0 in Big 12 play before suffered its first loss of the season to Kansas after a quick-kick punt hit a BYU defender to set up a 3-yard KU go-ahead score in a 17-13 heartbreaking loss to the Jayhawks at home as part of KU becoming the first team in NCAA history with a losing record to defeat three straight nationally ranked opponents. The next week the Cougars fell 28-23 at nationally ranked Arizona State, where reciever Chase Roberts hauled in 49-yard Hail Mary from Jake Retzlaff on the last play of the game but was stopped short of the game-winning score at the 2-yard line.
BYU followed up the back-to-back close setbacks with a double-digit victory over Houston on senior night in LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday. The Cougars started league play with a dominating 38-9 triumph over then No. 13 K-State at LaVell Edwards Stadium, followed by a wire-to-wire 34-28 road win over favored Baylor, who has not lost since on its way to finishing 6-3 in the league standings. BYU also achieved a 41-19 victory over Arizona and a dramatic 38-35 win over Oklahoma State in back-to-back home games, before consecutive road wins leading start to finish in 37-24 victory over favored UCF and earning a 22-21 rivalry triumph over Utah in Salt Lake City.
CFP and Bowl Announcements
The Cougars have been ranked No. 9, No. 6, No. 14, No. 19 and now No. 18 in the first five CFP rankings released this season. The final CFP rankings and official 12-team playoff bracket will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 8, following conference championship games this weekend. Bowl matchups will also be announced on Dec. 8.