BYU Preparing to Replace Liberty, Play Coastal Carolina on Saturday Pending Test Results

Reports surfaced on Wednesday afternoon that BYU is preparing to play Coastal Carolina this weekend. The Chanticleers are scheduled to host Liberty on Saturday, but the Flames are dealing with COVID-19 within their program. It appears that BYU will replace Liberty if Coastal Carolina-Liberty is cancelled. Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated confirmed the report:

#BYU and Coastal Carolina have explored the possibility of playing Saturday if Liberty cannot play because of COVID-related issues, sources tell @SINow.

However, as of now, the Flames are still on a path to play Saturday’s game at Coastal, which ESPN GameDay is originating from.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 2, 2020

According to Dellenger, "The Flames are still on a path to play Saturday's game at Coastal." College Gameday was going to be at Coastal Carolina-Liberty, so Gameday would presumably feature BYU-Coastal Carolina if the matchup comes to fruition.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ... We're headed to @CoastalFootball 👏

See you next week as the undefeated Chanticleers take on Liberty 🍿 pic.twitter.com/DKFr2zBT2i
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 30, 2020

According to Chris Vannini of the Athletic, Liberty will get its COVID-19 test results back "later tonight or tomorrow morning."

We'll find out Liberty's status later tonight or tomorrow morning after the test results come back. The Flames have had an uptick in cases.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 2, 2020

Both BYU and Coastal Carolina are unbeaten and both teams are ranked in the top 20 of the College Football Playoff rankings - BYU is #13 and Coastal Carolina is #18. The Cougars have been working tirelessly to add another opponent to their schedule - a game against an undefeated Coastal Carolina team could be exactly what the doctor ordered for BYU.

Despite a dominant 9-0 start, the Cougars' strength of schedule has not impressed the College Football Playoff committee. BYU was ranked in the AP top 10 for multiple weeks when they fell to #14 in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings. Committee chair Gary Barta cited BYU's weaker schedule when he explained BYU's ranking.

Coastal Carolina beat #21 Louisiana-Lafayette earlier this season, but the Chanticleers' resume was still not enough to justify a top 15 ranking in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee. A game between Coastal and BYU would make sense for both teams.

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