SEC Coaches Reportedly Upset Over BYU’s Near-CFP Run

The Big 12 was reportedly a point of frustration during SEC spring meetings

BYU tight end Carsen Ryan against Utah | BYU Photo

BYU and Texas Tech were reportedly a point of frustration during SEC spring meetings. On Wednesday, SI's Pat Forde reported that SEC coaches met with the College Football Playoff selection committee to understand more about their process.

The two teams that frustrated the committee? BYU and Texas Tech. "At particular issue for some in the room was the explanations for the rankings of Big 12 teams Texas Tech and BYU in relation to several SEC squads," Forde wrote. "Penalties for losses were a particular frustration."

SEC coaches were, apparently, frustrated that a two-loss BYU team was not penalized more for losing twice to Texas Tech. 12-2 BYU was ranked ahead of 9-3 Texas and 10-2 Vanderbilt in the final CFP rankings.

The logic of the SEC coaches is blatantly biased, but where their argument really breaks down is BYU was not a two-loss team heading into the postseason. The Cougars were 11-1 heading into the Big 12 championship game. BYU only lost a second game because it earned the right to play a 13th game while Vanderbilt and Texas were sitting at home.

In other words, the SEC coaches wanted to BYU to be penalized more for losing a championship game. They seem to forget that Alabama, who was blown out by Georgia in the SEC title game, went unpunished in the rankings after losing to the Bulldogs. At the time, there were no SEC coaches taking the stance that Alabama should be punished for playing an extra game. There were certainly no SEC coaches claiming Alabama should drop out of the CFP for their loss to 5-7 Florida State, either.

The SEC coaches are also missing historical context regarding BYU's CFP ranking. When BYU was 11-1 at the end of the regular season, they were ranked no. 11 in the CFP rankings and the first team out of the College Football Playoff. That ranking was unprecedented. Of the Power Four teams with an 11-1 record at the end of the regular season, no team had ever been ranked outside the top 10. In fact, only 4 out of 40 P4 teams had ever been ranked worse than 8th nationally.

By that measure, BYU was the most disrespected 11-1 P4 team in the history of the College Football Playoff committee. BYU was already the historical outlier. Yet, SEC coaches believe BYU still got too much respect. Here are the CFP rankings of 11-1 P4 teams dating back to 2014.

CFP rankings of one-loss teams at the end of the regular season | BYU On SI

SEC coaches - for whatever reason - have been particularly irked with the Big 12 in recent weeks. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian took a shot at Texas Tech and the Big 12 last week, claiming the Longhorns could go undefeated with their twos and threes.

“There’s a team in our state that plays in another conference that has a schedule that I would argue if I played with our twos and our threes, we could go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP this year,” Sarkisian said.

The SEC was gifted 5 out of 12 College Football Playoff spots last season. The results from those playoff games suggest the SEC was overvalued by the committee - the SEC did not beat a team from another P4 league in the playoff. In fact, the only SEC team to beat a team from another league was Ole Miss who beat Tulane at home.

As for BYU and what it means for 2026, the Cougars will not be given the benefit of the doubt. The Cougars have to win their way to respect. While it's not fair, BYU's home game against Notre Dame will be perhaps the only chance to earn national respect. The Fighting Irish will likely be a top five team when they come to Provo.

While the Notre Dame game is BYU's path to earning national respect, beating Notre Dame is not BYU's only chance to earn a spot in the playoff. If BYU wins the Big 12, they will be in the College Football Playoff. That's the most important goal for BYU. BYU teams of old would have loved to control their own destiny, and that's exactly the opportunity in front of BYU in 2026. No matter what SEC coaches say, they can't keep BYU out of the playoff if they win the Big 12.

In the words of Al Davis, "Just win, baby."

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