Mark Jones' call at the end of the Pop Tarts Bowl might be the most "BYU" call ever. He said the INT in the end zone to seal the Cougars' win was "atonement and redemption" for Evan Johnson. Johnson gave up a long pass on 4th down in the final moments to give Georgia Tech a chance to win it, then picked off Haynes King in the end zone on 4th down to seal the win. Classic!
I guess "sealing the win" can be BYU too...
Objectively, how do you defend this:
Miami (10–2)
– ESPN SOS: 45
– ESPN SOR: 14
– Did not play for a conference championship
– Losses: Two 8–4 teams (SMU, Louisville)
BYU (11–2)
– ESPN SOS: 22
– ESPN SOR: 9
– Played in the Big 12 championship
– Losses: No. 4 Texas Tech on the road & in the Big 12 title game
Notre Dame (10–2)
– ESPN SOS: 44
– ESPN SOR: 13
– Did not play for a conference championship
– Losses: Miami (who lost to two 8–4 teams) & No. 7 Texas A&M
Great work here by @RedditCFB. Comments and images are from them.
Take a look at these altered graphics by ESPN/ABC from this past weekend:
#1: Shown on the majority of broadcasts & excludes teams ranked 11th and 13th.
#2: shown during the BYU-UCF game. For this one, ESPN decided for the "W-L vs RANKED OPP" stat to only include games against teams who were ranked at the time of play instead of games vs current CFP ranked opponents. ESPN didn't convey this distinction to the audience so any casual viewer would probably think that BYU's resume wasn't Comparable to Oklahoma and Alabama.
#3: ESPN finally gets it right and shows an unbiased graphic during the Notre Dame-Stanford game which started in the 10:30 PM EST. Look at how the statistics differ between this graph and what was shown during the BYU-UCF game.
#4: BYU excluded from graph that was shown during the CFP ranking show. Now Pitt and Tennessee have both fallen out of the CFP rankings so Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami all lost a ranked win compared to what was shown Saturday. Maybe that's why they went back to excluding BYU from the discussion as now BYU has a better or equal(Alabama) record against ranked opponents compared to the other bubble teams.
If you're going to penalize a 1-loss Power Conference team for a weak strength of schedule... BYU's SOS is better than Ole Miss and Notre Dame.
If you're going to penalize a team for not having the strongest power ratings (which incorporate prior year's history and recruiting rankings)... BYU's FPI is higher than Oklahoma's.
If you're going to penalize a team for a non-competitive / bad loss... Alabama lost by 14 to a team with a losing record and Miami lost to two unranked teams.
If you're going to use strength-of-record like you indicated you would, BYU's SOR is the second highest of teams 6-12.
BYU also (1) made its conference championship game and (2) if you sum up the wins of the teams it has beaten, it is THIRD in the country. It is hard to win games and BYU has beaten a lot of teams with a lot of wins.
This. Makes. No. Sense.
The @CFBPlayoff should be ashamed of itself. It has literally contorted itself into a pretzel to avoid putting BYU where it should be ranked (somewhere between 6th - 9th).
RT to get the info out there. They need to feel pressure.
Reminder, BYU:
* Has more wins (11) than Notre Dame (10)
* One fewer loss (one) compared to (two)
* A better best win (No. 15 Utah)
* Better strength of record (the stat we were told mattered most).
Only reason Notre Dame is ahead of BYU is brand bias.
Period 😤😤
the entire Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a vitamin company and the cookie man just killed an entire blue blood football program.
this sport.
📜LDS Roots in Greenville and ECU
When ECU meets BYU on the field for the 4th time in series history. There’s a connection that goes beyond the field. Both of our programs were started by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Nephi Moroni Jorgensen, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, came to Greenville in 1947 as the school’s first athletics director. He built the program, raised his family here, and helped establish an LDS church in Greenville.
From 1947 to 1997 there was always a Jorgensen at ECU as a student or faculty member. Today his descendants carry ties to both ECU and BYU and many return for games that link his legacy.
I’m not LDS myself, but in the spirit of good fun before the game it’s worth remembering the LDS community’s role in helping shape ECU and Greenville. Their contribution is a real part of our history that deserves recognition.
🔍 Fun fact: Nephi Moroni Jorgensen is on the right while East Carolina football coach Clarence Stasavich is on the left in this picture.