College football guru Josh Pate handed his College Football Playoff prediction to the masses on Thursday, and it includes a marquee matchup for the BYU Cougars of the Big 12 Conference.
In his playoff picture, Pate taps No. 7 BYU to host Lane Kiffin and No. 10 LSU at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, in the opening round of the CFP with a chance to meet No. 2 Ohio State in the quarterfinals. It’d become the first meeting between the two schools since 2017, when Ed Orgeron and the Tigers hung 27 unanswered on the Cougars in New Orleans.
For BYU, it’d be a major task representing the Big 12 as the lone ambassador in Pate’s playoff scenario.
The Cougars, finishing 12-2 overall last year with a win over Georgia Tech in the Pop Tarts Bowl, missed the playoff for a second consecutive season thanks to a loss in the league’s championship game against Texas Tech. BYU had similar ambitions in 2024 kicking off the season 9-0, including a 22-21 win at Utah in the Holy War, only to lose at home to Kansas the following week. BYU recently granted Kalani Sitake a long-term extension worth around $9 million per year.
The Big 12 is just 1-8 in the CFP since its inception, with that one victory belonging to the TCU Horned Frogs, defeating Michigan in 2023 to reach the national title game with Georgia. Last year saw Texas Tech, led by a record nine NFL draft picks this summer, receive a first-round bye after defeating the Cougars 34-7 in the 2025 Big 12 title game.
