PROVO, Utah — BYU moved up three spots to No. 6 in the second College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday by the CFP selection committee.
Coming off a dramatic 22-21 road victory at Utah on Saturday, BYU received its highest CFP ranking in program history at No. 6 with an unbeaten 9-0 record on the season.
The Oregon Ducks (10-0) were again ranked No. 1 by the CFP committee, with Ohio State (8-1), Texas (8-1), Penn State (8-1) and Indiana (10-0) completing the top five. BYU (9-0) is followed by Tennessee (8-1), Notre Dame (8-1), Miami (9-1) and Alabama (7-2) to round out the top 10. Ole Miss (8-2) is ranked No. 11 while Georgia (7-2) is No. 12.
With the first year of the 12-team playoff featuring the four highest-rated champions receiving the top four seeds and first-round byes, BYU from the Big 12 is projected as the No. 3 seed in this week's look at the new playoff format. Oregon from the Big Ten is projected as the top seed, with the SEC's Texas (8-1) and ACC's Miami (9-1) as the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. With No. 13-ranked Boise State of the Mountain West projected as the No. 12 seed as the fifth conference champion qualifying for the playoff, Georgia is the first team out of the projected playoff bracket. SMU out of the ACC, a team BYU defeated 18-15 in Dallas earlier this year, is No. 14, the second team just outside the bracket. Read more about the new CFP format.
In its second season in the BIg 12, BYU is currently atop the league standings at 6-0 in conference play, one game ahead of Colorado at 5-1 and 7-2 overall. Three Big 12 schools are in this week's CFP rankings, with Kansas State (7-2) at No. 16 and the Buffaloes at No. 17.
BYU's unbeaten resume through nine games marks the fifth time the program has accomplished the feat in its 100 seasons of football. Head coach Kalani Sitake has done it twice, along with the 9-0 start in 2020, matching College Football Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards. The legendary Edwards guided his 1979 team to an 11-0 regular-season record before a bowl loss and famously led BYU to the national championship with a 13-0 record in 1984. Gary Crowton led BYU's 2001 team to a 12-0 start on its way to a 12-2 season.
This season BYU has earned its 6-0 Big 12 record with a dominating 38-9 triumph over then No. 13 K-State at LaVell Edwards Stadium, followed by a wire-to-wire 34-28 road win over favored Baylor, a 41-19 victory over Arizona and a dramatic 38-35 win over Oklahoma State in back-to-back home games before leading start to finish for a 37-24 victory over favored UCF and achieving a come-from-behind 22-21 rivalry triumph over Utah in consecutive road victories.
This week the Cougars return to LaVell Edwards Stadium after playing their last two games on the road. BYU will face Kansas (3-6, 2-4) coming off a 45-36 win over then nationally ranked Iowa State on Saturday. Kickoff for the Cougars and Jayhawks is at 8:15 p.m. MT and will be televised nationally on ESPN.