Which National Games Matter Most to BYU This Weekend

A look around the country at the games that impact BYU the most in week six

BYU cornerback Jayven Williams against Arizona | BYU Photo

The BYU football program will be back in action on Friday night against Iowa State. If the Cougars take care of business against the Cyclones, it will setup a top 10 matchup against Notre Dame the following week in LaVell Edwards Stadium. Outside of BYU-Iowa State, there are multiple national games that will impact BYU in week six.

The 10 games that impact BYU the most in week 6 | BYU On SI

Games Around the Big 12

There three games around the Big 12 that will impact BYU the most: Arizona at WVU, Kansas at Utah, and UCF at Oklahoma State.

If Arizona beats WVU, the Wildcats will improve to 5-1 overall and could be ranked. While an Arizona win would help BYU in future tiebreakers, if necessary, it would also boost BYU's resume. We are getting to the point of the season where resumes will become a talking point. It would really benefit BYU if Arizona was ranked in late October and November.

At the moment, Utah is the biggest threat to BYU in the Big 12 title race. It would benefit BYU's Big 12 title hopes if Utah loses a game or two. The Utes are favored by multiple scores over Kansas. However, weather could make this game a little more interesting. Kansas has one of the best run defenses in the conference and rain is in the forecast. If this game is gets sloppy, the Jayhawks could hang around and make this a game.

Oklahoma State is a growing threat to steal a spot in the Big 12 championship game. The Cowboys host UCF, a team that BYU plays in a few weeks. A UCF win over Oklahoma State would benefit BYU for two reasons: it would strengthen BYU's conference schedule (used for tiebreakers) and hand a loss to a title contender.

Teams Ranked Ahead of BYU that Could Lose

No. 2 Georgia and no. 6 Alabama play each other this weekend, meaning at least one ranked ahead of BYU will lose no matter what. The loser of that game will probably only fall below BYU if the game is lopsided. The best chance for BYU to move up is if no. 6 Alabama loses.

If BYU is going to move up in the rankings, no. 7 Indiana at Nebraska is one of the top games to watch. The Cornhuskers are off to a perfect 5-0 start and Indiana has been underwhelming at nearly every turn this season.

Teams that Could Threaten to Leapfrog BYU Down the Road if They Keep Winning

There are multiple teams ranked BYU behind that play big games this weekend. If they win those games, they could either leapfrog BYU this weekend or down the road. No. 9 Ole Miss and no. 10 LSU are at the top of that list. BYU leapfrogged Ole Miss in the rankings last weekend and they could take their spot back with a road win over Vanderbilt.

LSU will take on a much-improved Kentucky team on the road. It would really benefit BYU if LSU suffered its second loss of the season.

There are a few games that won't impact BYU's ranking right away, but could impact BYU in the College Football Playoff race down the road: Oregon-UCLA, Texas A&M-Missouri, and USC-Penn State.

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