The problem with our schedule isn’t really its overall “toughness.” It’s more the way the toughness is distributed.
Overall, the FPI ratings have BYU’s schedule ranked 64th. But Clemson’s is 56th and Notre Dame’s is 51st, so not fatal. But the breakdown kills us. We play an FCS team and the 125 ranked team, which is fine as almost every team has 2 cupcakes. But it’s the next 5 games that hurt us as our opponents are ranked 114, 83, 78, 77, 73. With a schedule that has seven games against teams above 70, we will never be considered for an NY6 bowl game even with an 11-1 or 12-0 record. In reality BYU has a 5 game schedule and the Selection Committee won’t regard that as a fair challenge. Any top 25 team would go 7-0 against that portion of our schedule so it proves nothing to the Committee no matter how tough the other games are.