The final College Football Playoff rankings of 2025 delivered a paradoxical judgment on the Big 12 Conference, resulting in a perceived injustice for the BYU Cougars while simultaneously awarding their rival, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, a coveted first-round bye. The stark contrast in treatment—BYU relegated to a low at-large seed despite an 11-1 regular season, and Texas Tech cruising into the top four—exposed the lingering reliance on subjective evaluation over objective metrics.

BYU’s resume was demonstrably playoff-worthy, featuring a top-ten Strength of Record (SOR) and an impressive collection of wins, including a decisive victory over a ranked Utah team. Their only regular-season blemish was a road loss to Texas Tech. Yet, the CFP committee consistently penalized BYU for the nature of that single loss, citing the margin as a reason to hold them outside the top ten.

The profound unfairness lies in the comparison with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders, also finishing with an identical 11-1 record (before the conference championship) and possessing a similar overall strength of schedule, were able to secure a top-four position, guaranteeing them a crucial first-round bye. The committee effectively punished BYU for falling to an elite team, but rewarded that very elite team with an automatic advantage.

This disparity suggests the committee was not solely evaluating wins and losses, but rather projecting perceived ceiling and perhaps favoring a perceived "eye test" bias that benefited Texas Tech. BYU was denied the opportunity to host an opening-round game or secure the bye that its 11-1 status and overall résumé logically warranted. In the end, the system failed to reward the parity of the new Big 12, creating an unequal distribution of advantages for two teams who achieved nearly identical levels of regular-season success.

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