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Robert Griffin III names two-loss program that should be in College Football Playoff

Ryan Young|
College football and NFL analyst Robert Griffin III.
College football and NFL analyst Robert Griffin III. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

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BYU Cougars

It was mostly a consensus entering the weekend that BYU needed to win the Big 12 championship game vs. Texas Tech on Saturday to make the College Football Playoff, but not everybody agrees with that take.

Former Heisman Trophy winner and Fox Sports college football analyst Robert Griffin III made his position clear after the No. 11 Cougars lost 34-7 to No. 4 Texas Tech as BYU dropped to 11-2 with two lopsided losses to the Red Raiders (12-1).

"BYU lost twice to the #4 team in the country. Texas Tech is a GREAT team. BYU should still be in the College Football Playoff at 11-2 with the 2 best losses of any team in the country," Griffin posted on social media. "11-win teams shouldn't be punished for the result of the Conference Championship game. Period."

It's worth noting that Griffin starred in the Big 12 at Baylor, and this time of year, conference allegiances drive a lot of the commentary and opinions around the College Football Playoff, but the BYU debate is an interesting one.

In addition to the 34-7 loss Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, BYU lost 29-7 on the road to the Red Raiders last month. The Cougars struck first Saturday with a 14-play, 90-yard drive capped by a 10-yard LJ Martin touchdown run, but Texas Tech followed with 34 unanswered points in a dominant performance.

BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier had one of his toughest games of the season, passing for 115 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

The debate surrounding BYU is that it is being penalized for playing in the conference championship game, while higher-ranked teams like Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Oregon finished their resumes in the regular season and didn't face the risk of an extra loss.

The case for the Cougars is that they have two wins over teams in the latest CFP rankings -- No. 15 Utah and No. 18 Arizona -- and lost only to a top-4 team (twice).

The other side of that is BYU played one playoff team and got blown out twice in those opportunities.

The reality is that in addition to the five conference champion automatic qualifiers ...

The loser of No. 1 Ohio State/No. 2 Indiana in the Big Ten championship game is also a lock to make the 12-team CFP bracket, along with No. 5 Oregon (11-1) out of the Big Ten.

No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1), No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1), and most likely No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2) from the SEC are in, plus No. 3 Georgia if it loses to No. 9 Alabama in the SEC championship game Saturday.

So that's already 10 or 12 spots claimed if Georgia wins and 11 of the 12 spots if Georgia loses.

If Alabama loses and falls to 10-3, it would be in the mix with No. 10 Notre Dame (10-2), No. 10 Miami (10-2), No. 11 BYU (11-2), No. 13 Texas (9-3) and No. 14 Vanderbilt (10-2) for two spots.

For what it's worth, BYU coach Kalani Sitake also made the case for why his team should be in the playoffs.

"Who's played the best team in the country twice? We have. ... Everybody else will find out," he said.

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Ryan Young
RYAN YOUNG

Ryan Young joins CFB HQ On SI after 15 years as a college football beat writer, including the last seven years in Los Angeles covering the USC Trojans for Rivals. He previously covered Florida and Coastal Carolina after four years at the Kansas City Star. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

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