Brett Yormark has an issue with College Football Playoff selection committee. And while it might be just nit-picking at this point, his case points up how an expanded playoff hasn’t necessarily lessened the outcry.
The Big 12 commissioner spoke to CBS Sports this week about his concern that his highest-ranked team, BYU (No. 14 in the CFP Rankings), is one spot behind a team it beat earlier in the season, No. 13 SMU.
That goes back to the old transitive property of poll voting that basically posits “If Team A beat Team B, it must be ranked ahead of Team B.”
Not this week. Despite an 18-15 BYU win at SMU on Sept. 6, the Mustangs are one spot ahead of the Cougars. Complicating things is Boise State being No. 12. If the CFP started tomorrow, the Broncos would have a first-round bye ahead of the Big 12 champion.
“A little puzzled,” Yormark said Thursday. “If the metrics are all about strength of schedule and body of work and head-to-head, I don’t see some of the consistencies that should be.
“BYU being below a team they beat earlier in the year, on the road, with identical records is a little surprising to me,” he said.
Three other Big 12 teams are ranked in that top 25 this week: No. 16 Colorado, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 22 Iowa State. The Sun Devils debuted this week after upsetting Kansas State; the Wildcats dropped out.
“Having Colorado No. 16 when they’ve won seven of eight. In this new world of the transfer portal, those preseason polls don’t mean much because of the turnover and roster management,” Yormark continued. “You don’t know what you really have until you get a few weeks into the season … It’s certainly playing out at Colorado. It’s certainly playing out with Arizona State and their momentum.”
Both teams are 8-2, among 18 teams in the Power Four with at least that many wins. BYU has played two teams that were in the rankings at one time (SMU and Kansas State). It will play a third Saturday at Arizona State.
SMU will end the regular season having played only two ranked teams (BYU and Louisville). Boise’s best “win” might be a loss, a narrow 34-27 decision at the hands of No. 1 Oregon on Sept 7. The Broncos outgained the Ducks that day.
According to several metrics, BYU seems to have the most difficult schedule of the three. But when it lost, that meant every team in the Big 12 had lost at least one game. Only the Big Ten has any undefeated conference teams left (Oregon and Indiana).
While all of this may seem like typical campaigning, it’s rare for a Power Four commissioner to enter the discussion. But the stakes have risen. The makeup of the 12-team playoff has created a new kind of flashpoint.
The top four ranked conference champions on Dec. 8 will receive first-round byes. The next highest-ranked conference champion will be guaranteed a spot in the field as well.
Right now, those five conference champions would be Oregon, Texas, Miami, Boise State and BYU. Because it is currently behind Boise, BYU would be playing a first-round game.
The SEC and Big Ten are expected to load the field with up to four teams each. The ACC and Big 12 are each hoping for a second team in the field. If No. 6 Notre Dame, 9-1, qualifies, it would take a spot as well.
“If we keep winning, we’ll certainly be in the conversation for [a second spot],” Yormark said.
“Don’t look at the logo on the helmet, look at the résumé,” he added. “I’ll continue to use that line. Maybe I’ll even trademark it.”
Earlier this year, the SEC and Big Ten lobbied for automatic qualifier spots beginning in 2026. That idea died but is expected to be brought up again after the season when the commissioners take up the subject.
“I said so publicly, you don’t want an artificial championship,” Yormark said, providing a preview of those discussions. “I think you have to earn your way in. No free passes.”
What rankled the commissioner is BYU dropping six spots from No. 8 to No. 14 after a four-point loss at home to Kansas. That was the largest drop of any team in this week’s rankings. Kansas State dropped out after being ranked 16th.
CBS Sports was able to obtain exclusively a portion of the strength of schedule information used by the committee. The Big 12 is tied with the SEC for most wins against teams with records above .500 with 36 each.
Here are those standings for the remainder of FBS …
3. ACC (35)
4. Big Ten (32)
5. Sun Belt (24)
6. MAC (18)
7. American (11)
8. Conference USA (10)
9. Mountain West (8)
10. Independents (7)
11. Pac-12 (Oregon State, Washington State, 4)
That information comes from SportsSource analytics, an industry-leading firm out of Atlanta and favored by the CFP.
SportsSource recently expanded to player evaluation and recruiting information. Its database is so vast that athletic directors use the company’s research to evaluate coaching candidates.
Its information is not available to the public. Its “football data services” range from $12,500 to $50,000 for a subscription.
“They all have limitations,” SportsSource co-founder Drew Borland said of strength of schedule components. “I’ve probably researched 30 of them in-depth. As much as they are models and mathematical, there is a fair amount of subjectivity you have to put in building the model.”
The Big 12 has pointed out that the Mountain West is eighth among the nine FBS conferences in schedule strength calculated by the NCAA. The MWC’s opponents have a combined .489 winning percentage. The Big 12 is second behind the SEC with a .582 winning percentage.
The Big 12 continues to make its case. Committee members Gary Pinkel, the former Missouri coach, and journalist Kelly Whiteside have been assigned to evaluate Big 12 games and report back to the committee as a whole. Each FBS conference is assigned committee members who track its play during the season.
It was a day of commissioners weighing in. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey posted on Twitter a graphic that showed six of his teams leading the country, all in the top 33 schedule strength.
The next highest-ranked team? BYU.