Kalani Sitake on BYU's CFP hopes: 'At least put us in the graphic'

BYU‘s 34-7 loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Conference championship game likely removes the Cougars from College Football Playoff contention. Now 11-2 overall, both losses have come against the Red Raiders.

Head coach Kalani Sitake stated his case for letting his team remain in the conversation. Even in defeat, the BYU coach ended his statement with some humor.

“(Texas Tech) is the number one team in the country. I don’t know what the other rankings are. This team is really good. So you go play the number one team in the country twice, one in Lubbock and one in a neutral site, which is the same state. I thought our fans showed up and made a lot of noise,” Sitake said. “I’d love another crack at it.

“But they do that to everybody. If you watch the film and you see what they do, they basically grind it out, and they end the games like they just did against us. I like who we are and I like what we’ve been able to do. I think we have a great resumé. But I’ve got to watch the other games, too. I just know that when they’re doing comparisons, hopefully they put it out there and make it fair. At least put us in the graphic; that would be nice.”

Coming into conference championship weekend, BYU was ranked No. 11 in the post-regular season College Football Playoff rankings. A win over Texas Tech would have solidified the Cougars’ spot in the playoffs as one of the top five-ranked conference champions. Instead, they will likely be on the outside looking in when the bracket is revealed on Sunday.

“I’m not on the playoff committee, but I can tell you one thing, who has played the best team in the country twice? We have,” Sitake said. “Does that mean that you’re not one of the best 12? I have no idea. I’m not in that committee. I don’t make the decisions. But others will find out.”

Elsewhere on BYU’s resume, they defeated a ranked Utah team at home in the Holy War. They also defeated Iowa State, TCU and Cincinnati. Those victories came in one long stretch, separated by the initial loss to BYU on Dec. 8.

The issue — Texas Tech has outscored BYU 63-14 in their two matchups. This fact alone is expected keep them out of the field.