The shift in BYU's national reputation is no longer just a feeling. It shows up in the predictions. Feed the Cougar reviewed 35 complete College Football Playoff forecasts from writers at ESPN, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and On3. Nineteen included BYU in the 12-team field. Sixteen did not. That works out to 54.3% for the Cougars. It is a narrow majority, not a consensus, but it places BYU squarely in the national playoff discussion before the 2026 season begins.

National forecasts increasingly include BYU in the College Football Playoff field

What the survey found

The seven outlets did not view BYU the same way.

  • ESPN: 9 of 12 writers included BYU, or 75%.
  • CBS Sports: 3 of 9 included BYU, or 33.3%.
  • FOX Sports: 2 of 4 included BYU.
  • NBC Sports: 1 of 2 included BYU.
  • Sports Illustrated: Both complete brackets reviewed included BYU.
  • USA Today: 1 of 2 included BYU.
  • On3: 1 of 4 complete brackets reviewed included BYU.

The Sports Illustrated and On3 counts include only individual, complete playoff brackets that FTC could verify. That matters because conference-title picks and general playoff commentary do not always identify a full 12-team field.

ESPN sees more than a bubble team

ESPN produced the most substantial bloc of BYU support. Ryan McGee and Mark Schlabach placed the Cougars sixth. Andrea Adelson, Adam Rittenberg and Jake Trotter had them eighth. David Hale and Dave Wilson put BYU ninth, Eli Lederman chose No. 10 and Kyle Bonagura selected No. 11. Bill Connelly, Max Olson and Paolo Uggetti left BYU out.

Among the nine ESPN writers who selected the Cougars, the average position was No. 8.3 and the median was No. 8. Those are not last-team-in predictions. Several would put BYU in position to host a first-round game in Provo.

CBS is less convinced

The CBS Sports panel went the other direction. Brandon Marcello put BYU seventh, Shehan Jeyarajah eighth and Brad Crawford 10th. Tom Fornelli, Chip Patterson, John Talty, Richard Johnson, David Cobb and Chris Hummer did not include the Cougars.

There is an interesting split inside those results. CBS writers were less likely to select BYU, but the three who did gave the Cougars an average position of No. 8.3 — the same average as ESPN's nine selections. Marcello also picked BYU to win the Big 12. In other words, the disagreement is not simply about whether BYU can be good. It is about how likely the Cougars are to navigate the Big 12 with enough room to survive a loss.

The middle is almost evenly divided

FOX Sports split 2-2, with Michael Cohen and Ben Portnoy selecting BYU while RJ Young and Laken Litman left the Cougars out. NBC Sports split its two forecasts, with Nicole Auerbach including BYU and Joshua Perry excluding it. USA Today also split, as Matt Hayes left BYU out and Erick Smith picked the Cougars to win the Big 12 and reach the playoff.

Sports Illustrated was the most favorable outlet in the smaller samples. Pat Forde placed BYU 11th, and Bryan Fischer had the Cougars seventh in an earlier complete bracket. Six SI writers also split their Big 12 championship picks evenly between BYU and Texas Tech.

On3 supplied the most skeptical group. Zak Herbstreit placed BYU eighth, but J.D. PicKell, Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman left the Cougars out of their complete fields.

The distance between ESPN's 75% inclusion rate and On3's 25% rate captures the preseason argument around BYU. Some writers see a team capable of playing at home in the first round. Others see a contender that could be squeezed out if it does not win the conference.

BYU enters 2026 as a nationally recognized Big 12 contender

Arlington may decide how much benefit of the doubt BYU receives

Winning the Big 12 would settle the issue. The more difficult scenario is an 11-2 or 10-3 BYU team coming off a loss in the conference championship game. Would the committee reward the Cougars for reaching Arlington? Would a comparable SEC or Big Ten team receive the final at-large spot instead? The split between Auerbach and Perry reflects that uncertainty: one forecast leaves room for BYU to lose the title game and still get in, while the other has the available at-large bids going elsewhere.

That is a healthier debate for BYU than the program faced as an independent. The question is no longer whether the Cougars have access to the playoff. It is whether their record and conference résumé will be strong enough to earn a place without an automatic bid.

A real change, with games still to play

The 19-16 count should not be mistaken for a guarantee. Preseason brackets are snapshots, and a few close Big 12 games will change them quickly. Still, the sample says something useful about how BYU enters 2026. A majority of the national writers reviewed by FTC put the Cougars in the playoff, and many of those selections place BYU comfortably inside the field.

That is a meaningful change for a program that once had to defend the value of a 10-win season from outside a power conference. BYU begins this season as a recognized Big 12 contender. The next step belongs to the Cougars. Sources: ESPN, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and On3 playoff forecasts reviewed by Feed the Cougar.