CougarCorner

Assuming BYU wins out...
how high can they climb? The next 2 games won't generate much buzz, but I think a statement win @ USC would be a good springboard up the rankings (even if USC isn't all that great this year).


And man does that BSU loss hurt right now.

Also, Jaren Hall looked like a different player out there. Hopefully he's finally healthy.

A quick look at the P12 standings tells me that they're probably going to end up 3rd or 4th in the P12 South. Beating a big name always helps, but probably not much in this case

I'm going to predict 13th if we win out.

Best case scenario: USC gets hot and wins out. Utah falls apart down the stretch and USC ends up in the P12 championship game. Even then, they'll only be 7-4 and probably not ranked, so in that scenario, I'll bump us up to 11th

My guess is that we can probably move up one spot each week the next three weeks, as most weeks there is usually a few losses in the rankings above us.

Right now, we're at #17 in the AP Poll. Teams ahead of us that might/could lose:
#15 Ole Miss vs Liberty (unlikely)
#12 Auburn at #13 Texas A&M (loser will have 3 losses and could drop below us)
#10 Wake Forest at North Carolina (they could drop with a loss)

The week after has some opportunities for us to move during the bye:
#14 Baylor at #4 Oklahoma (a loss could drop the Bears behind us despite beating us)
#13 Texas A&M at #15 Ole Miss (good chance both teams lose a game the next two weeks to drop behind us)

Then by that point a BYU win at USC could be enough that a #4 Oklahoma win at #11 Oklahoma St could drop the Cowboys behind us. And could see us leapfrog #16 UTSA.

So I think it's possible that if BYU wins out, there is a chance for BYU to move up 4-5 more spots before the bowl game. I'll take a Top 12 ranking going into our bowl which would lead to a decent chance for a Top 10 finish.

Bottom line: Take care of business by winning the last four games and the ranking will take care of itself.

Well, strangely the CFP committee loves us, and has us at 15, and we have opportunities to rise with well-timed losses and upsets by those above us.

11/6:
* 13 AUB vs 14 A&M next
* 9 WAKE vs UNC (UNC favored)

11/13:
* 4 ORE vs WSU
* 8 OU vs 12 BAY
* 9 WAKE vs 19 NCST (NCST favored)
* 13 AUB vs 17 MSST
* 14 A&M vs 16 MISS
* 10 ND vs UVA

Without too much craziness (Cincy, Oregon, ND dropping games they shouldn't, Auburn upsetting Bama), we could have 3 13-0 conference champions (Georgia, Michigan St., Oklahoma), and nobody else better than 10-2. We probably wouldn't be the best 10-2 team in the committee's eyes, but maybe some more magical upsets happen? 11/13 is the key; a lot of teams right above us could lose while we have a bye, and that will tell us a lot about where our two losses stack up with the rest. It's better to lose early than late.