How Would 1996 BYU Football Fare If There Would Have Been A 12-Team Playoff?

Jul 19, 2024, 11:24 AM | Updated: Jul 22, 2024, 1:35 pm

KSL Sports

PROVO – This upcoming year in college football, the playoff is expanding to a 12-team field. That will allow for more teams to compete for the national title and an exciting change to the college football landscape.

This change has been a long time coming as college football has glacially moved from the Bowl Coalition to the Bowl Alliance, then from the BCS to the four-team field, and now a postseason featuring a dozen teams.

The format for the upcoming playoff allows for automatic bids for the five highest-rated conference champions and seven at-large teams.

There have been many great teams that never had the chance to play for a national title.

This includes the 1996 BYU football team.

That year, the postseason format was the Bowl Alliance. The Cougars were not invited to a major bowl game despite being ranked No. 5 at the end of the season. BYU was the third-highest-ranked team among those eligible for the Bowl Alliance. The Rose Bowl was not part of this agreement, and that game featured No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 4 Ohio State.

BYU finished ahead of both Big 12 champion Texas who finished No. 2o, and Big East champion Virginia Tech which came in at No. 10 in the final regular season rankings. The Cougars were also ahead of a pair of teams that did not win their conference; No. 6 Nebraska and No. 7 Penn State. This was all due to playing in the WAC, which was not a power conference.

Going to the Cotton Bowl was still a big deal, even though it was not part of the Bowl Alliance. The Cougars ended up beating No. 14 Kansas State, 19-15, to finish 14-1.

Who Were The Stars Of This Team?

The Cougars started the year not ranked in the preseason polls, but their opener was at home and against then-No. 13 Texas A&M. This was a high-scoring game – something that would be a theme most of the year – with the Cougars edging out the Aggies, 41-37. BYU averaged 40.8 points per game and was one of five teams to eclipse 40 points or more per game.

BYU would then split its next two games. A win over Arkansas State then a loss on the road to an unranked Washington team. That would be the only defeat that the Cougars would have all year.

They kept winning in the WAC and climbed up the rankings. BYU would go on to win nine of their next 10 games by at least 20 points. The WAC title game in Las Vegas saw the Cougars grind out a close one by defeating Wyoming, 28-25, in overtime.

Quarterback Steve Sarkisian led this BYU team, he shared the honors of player of the year in the WAC alongside quarterbacks Beau Morgan of Air Force and Marcus Harris from Wyoming. Sarkisian led the country in passing efficiency that year with a rating of 173.56 and won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, an award given to the nation’s top collegiate passer.

The receivers were evenly spread out with five players recording at least three touchdown receptions. Leading the way with eight touchdowns and 901 yards was K.O. Kealaluhi, which was good enough for third in the conference for touchdowns. He was the Cougars’ deep threat by averaging 18.4 yards per catch which was fourth in the conference.

The offense also had a solid ground attack for BYU. It featured Brian McKenzie and Ronney Jenkins each had 11 touchdowns, and the duo had 950 and 733 yards respectively.

BYU also had the WAC co-defensive player of the year with linebacker Shay Muirbrook who shared the award with Air Forces’ Chris Bordano. Muirbrook was a star in the Cotton Bowl that year with six sacks and is now in the bowl games Hall of Fame.

How A 1996 College Football Playoff Would Have Looked

Back in 1996, there were 10 conferences. To determine the bracket, the format that will be used will be the original idea for a 12-team field. That was to be the six highest-rated conference champions and six at-large.

The six conference champions to earn an automatic bid would have been:

Conference Champion Auto Bids

No. 1 Florida State
No. 2 Arizona State
No. 3 Florida
No. 4 Ohio State
No. 5 BYU
No. 10 Virginia Tech

The rest of the teams would be the next six highest-ranked teams.

At-Large Bids

No. 6 Nebraska
No. 7 Penn State
No. 8 Colorado
No. 9 Tennessee
No. 11 Northwestern
No. 12 North Carolina

The top four conference teams earn a bye and those go to Florida State, Arizona State, Florida, and Ohio State. BYU would just miss out on that, but their consolation prize is a home game against No. 12-seeded North Carolina.

Simulating The Bracket

How far would BYU have gone in this tournament?

To figure that out we used the website What If Sports to simulate the games. It was done one time and one time only (so, you will trust me on the result of these games). The link to the final score will take you to the box score with stats and even a play-by-play chart.

First Round Games

No. 12 North Carolina at No. 5 BYU: BYU 37, North Carolina 7

This game was not even close with BYU scoring 27 of its 37 points in the second and third quarters. The player of the game was Sarkisian who was 26 of 35 for 372 yards to go along a pair of touchdowns and one interception.

No. 11 Northwestern at No. 6 Nebraska: Northwestern 24, Nebraska 10

No. 10 Virginia Tech at No. 7 Penn State: Virginia Tech 39, Penn State 20

No. 9 Tennesee at No. 8 Colorado: Tennessee 25, Colorado 22

Quarterfinals (Neutral site)

No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 8 Tennessee: Florida State 29, Tennesee 14

No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech 26, Arizona State 17

No. 3 Florida vs. N0. 11 Northwestern: Florida 35, Northwestern 16

No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 BYU: BYU 34, Ohio State 32

The Cougars pulled off the upset but also nearly blew the game. BYU was up 34-25 and forced the Buckeyes to punt the ball, but at their own 13, Sarkisian threw a pick-six. After gaining three first downs, BYU kneels out the clock to advance to the semifinals.

The player of the game for the Cougars was running back Brian McKenzie, he rushed for 181 yards and scored three times.

Semifinals (Neutral site)

No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 4 BYU: Florida State 42, BYU 17

Well, that is a way to end this simulated season, a 25-point defeat to the top team in the country. The defense did have three interceptions and a pair of sacks but that was not enough. The offensive line is what really hurt the Cougars with seven sacks allowed and they didn’t get on the board until the second half.

The game was essentially over being down 21-0 at the half. Making it to the semifinals would have made for a great season.

No. 3 Florida vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech: Florida 25, Virginia Tech 10