Projected final 2020 College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings after Week 16

BYU dreamed big coming into the 2020 season, scheduling a half-dozen Power Five opponents on their schedule along with rival Boise State and several other tough Group of Five opponents. That all came collapsing down when COVID-19 altered the course of this year. Cobbling together a schedule from spare parts, the Cougars managed to get 11 games in. Icarus-like, they flew too high and came crashing back down to earth after falling in an instant classic at Coastal Carolina.

Even though the Cougars came up a yard short in Conway, they will remain entrenched somewhere in the mid-teens of the final College Football Playoff rankings. Zach Wilson elevated the Cougars offense into one of the 10 best units in the country, and elevated his own NFL Draft stock in the process. BYU’s defense was just as good, ranking third nationally as they held opponents to an average of just 14.6 points per game.

The Cougars could climb as high as the top 15 in the last Top 25 from the selection committee, but they won’t get into range to force their way into a New Year’s Six bowl. To get ahead of the rush for spots in the postseason, BYU has already accepted an invitation to square off against high-octane UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl on December 22 in what promises to be a stern test for one of the nation’s best defenses.