Table is now set for BYU to crash title game

Published Sep. 7, 2009 11:13 p.m. ET

foxsports

The first big upset of the season could provide the momentum to reshape the whole BCS power structure.

Forget being a BCS buster. Brigham Young is setting itself up as a national championship game buster.

Believe it or not, it's set up perfectly. Of course, they have to win the games, but these guys could actually play their way into the title game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 7.

Premature? Maybe. Possible? Very.

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Quarterback Max Hall and the surprisingly rugged Cougars have an upside that we have never seen from an "outsider" in the BCS era, thanks to their schedule and national TV cache that can actually impress the voters.

They took care of Oklahoma at a neutral site, 14-13, knocking out Heisman Trophy quarterback Sam Bradford along the way, and still have three games against ranked teams remaining. Florida State visits Provo on Sept. 19, and TCU and Utah (who are also hopeful of becoming this season's BCS buster) have to visit Cougar Stadium, too.

Last year, the Mountain West Conference proved itself as one of the top five conferences in the country, and it could be even better this year.

In fact, once you get past the SEC and the Big 12, does any other conference have three teams better than BYU, Utah and TCU?

I'll answer that one for you.

Nope.

BYU, certainly, has a difficult schedule. But after the way the Cougars defeated Oklahoma, their upside could rival even champions of some BCS conferences. This is a team that showed it can do it with defense as well as offense, and the Cougars can use their Cowboys Stadium performance as a launching pad for the rest of the season.

Consider the way Utah soared in the polls last year with a 12-0 regular-season record that included a season-opening victory against ho-hum Michigan, and a triumph over Oregon State. Wins over Oklahoma and Florida State would carry much more weight nationally. The Utes, interestingly enough, had BYU and TCU at home.

It's a nice recipe that Bronco Mendenhall would love for his team to follow.

What they really need now is for Florida State to beat Miami on Labor Day to give the Seminoles a high national ranking heading into their game in Provo.

Protection breakdown

The three Heisman QB amigos have been reduced to a dynamic duo.