Dave Portnoy Believes BYU Should Be in the Playoffs

BYU QB Bear Bachmeier hands it off to Parker Kingston against TCU | BYU Photo

On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff committee will reveal the updated College Football Playoff rankings. In all likelihood, the Cougars will move up just one spot to no. 11 after dominating TCU on Saturday.

Dave Portnoy believes BYU is a College Football Playoff team.

"[BYU] is 9-1. They are a top 10 team. Now I sometimes get confused on the mechanics of how this works. I've heard the Big 12, they're only gonna get one team. They deserve two. Texas Tech and BYU are playoff teams. I don't want to hear it...Put some respect on BYU's name. Put some respect on Cosmo. He's a great performer. This team deserves to be in the playoffs. End of story."

Provo Dave is fighting for BYU to be in the playoffs...

"Put some respect on BYU's name! Put some respect on @TheCosmoCougar, he's a great performer. This team deserves to be in the playoffs, end of story." - @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/EuOKSg398K

— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) November 17, 2025

Portnoy's comments are important. Not because they will make any difference in the CFP rankings - they won't. Rather, his comments are important because BYU needs advocates in the national media. If one or two people start to point out that BYU is underrated, it could draw more attention to BYU's ranking. That kind of larger, broader spotlight by the national media at large could have a material impact on the final rankings.

Portnoy will be in onsite ahead of the BYU-Cincinnati game. The Cougars and the Bearcats will be highlighted by the Big Noon Kickoff show on Saturday morning.

Despite a a strength of record ranking (aka a resume ranking) of 6th according to ESPN, the Cougars will probably be on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff in the committee's new rankings. So if BYU is being underrated, then who is being overrated by the committee?

Take Notre Dame, for example. Notre Dame has one more loss than BYU, a worse strength of record than BYU, a worse strength of schedule than BYU (the two metrics that the committee is supposed to use), and the Fighting Irish don't have a win as good as BYU's win over no. 13 Utah. Still, the Fighting Irish will be ranked comfortably ahead of the Cougars and nobody in the national media seems will protest it.

Fortunately for the Cougars, they are not completely reliant on the committee at this point in the season. If BYU wins out, they will rematch against Texas Tech in the College Football Playoff. If BYU wins the Big 12, they will be in the College Football Playoff regardless of what happens over the next few weeks.