SMU is ranked only like...what...#14 in the CFP rankings and is just 8-0 against teams not named BYU this season while playing in the ACC. They beat a ranked Pitt team by only like 23 points and they're listed as the first or second team out of the predicted CFP, so we certainly can't hang our hat on that as a quality away game win. Also, can you believe our team won that game by only 3 points? I honestly still feel embarrassed for us about it.

Then you have BYU's 29 point win over Kansas State (ranked #16 in CFP rankings), who is even worse than SMU because they're only 8-1 against teams not named BYU through a P4 schedule. If the ball had bounced the other way on like three (or maybe twenty) of the plays in that game then BYU might have won by only one score there too. So you can definitely see how that one is basically just as good as a loss.

Then there's the matter of BYU's close game against Utah, who was loaded with talent and predicted pre-season to go to the CFP. That close win in SLC might as well be a loss given the way it was "stolen" according to their AD. Harlan has had his finger right on the pulse of every shift in the conference realignment space and he has never been wrong there (I'm told in AD circles they call him just Nostradamus). A man like that has basically earned the right to credit his team with a win regardless of what the final score says.

Lastly, we have no wins against SEC or B1G teams, which are the only games that count to qualify you for the CFP, but even more importantly, we don't have any losses against SEC or B1G teams. Those are both bad for BYU. Hopefully we'll have the good sense to not even show up to the CFP game if we qualify for it this next month. If we do play, then my only hope is we can finally get a "good loss" against one of those teams so we can finally prove we belong with the big boys (like Utah did twice in the Rose Bowl). Dare to dream, am I right?