SportsThursday, November 5
Utah is No. 3 and BYU is No. 9 in the first College Football Playoff rankings
The Daily Orem team
If you're counting down to Saturday, the Holy War just got bigger. The playoff committee's first rankings have the Utes at No. 3 and the Cougars at No. 9, with Utah at 8-0 and BYU at 7-1, and Utah's spot is the highest in program history.
Utah and BYU both landed in the CFP top 10
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 8-0 |
| 2 | Georgia | 7-1 |
| 3 | Utah | 8-0 |
| 4 | Indiana | 8-1 |
| 5 | Alabama | 6-2 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 7-1 |
| 7 | Texas | 6-2 |
| 8 | UCLA | 8-0 |
| 9 | BYU | 7-1 |
| 10 | Ole Miss | 6-2 |
Source: Deseret News
Only No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Georgia rank ahead of Utah. Two-loss SEC teams Alabama and Texas are ahead of BYU. KUTV notes the committee put Notre Dame at No. 11 and undefeated UCLA at No. 8, and says BYU's win over the Irish 17 days ago in Provo explains why the Cougars sit two spots ahead of Notre Dame.
- Kickoff: Sat., Nov. 7, 10 a.m. MST, Salt Lake City
- If the playoff started today: Utah gets a bye and a Fiesta Bowl bid
- BYU would play at No. 8 UCLA in the first round
- Bracket set: Sun., Dec. 6, with 12 teams
The committee evaluates teams weekly, so Saturday's result will shake up next week's rankings. Utah's one top-25 win is over Houston. BYU's two are Notre Dame and Arizona, and it lost in double overtime at UCF.
Utah is unbeaten, while BYU has one loss
| Utah | Measure | BYU |
|---|---|---|
| No. 3 | CFP ranking | No. 9 |
| 8 | Wins | 7 |
| 0 | Losses | 1 |
| 1 | CFP top-25 wins | 2 |
Source: Deseret News
Sources: KMYU, Deseret News, KUTV