By Jordan SiglerShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberNo. 11 BYU is set to play No. 5 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday.
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The Cougars would punch their ticket into the College Football Playoff with a win over the Red Raiders. BYU finished the regular season with an 11-1 record, its only loss coming to TTU in a 29-7 contest on the road on Nov. 8.
The Cougars have an argument to make the CFP despite the outcome of Saturday's contest.
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Following Texas Tech's win over West Virginia on Saturday, TTU head coach Joey McGuire argued BYU deserves to make the CFP regardless of the result of the Big 12 championship.
"No matter what happens, I think BYU and Texas Tech should be in the playoffs," McGuire said.
However, news has surfaced in recent days that BYU head coach Kalani Sitake is expected to interview for the open job at Penn State, per college football insider Josh Pate. PSU would obviously like to finalize its head coaching search before the early signing period begins on Wednesday.
“We think they're meeting with Kalani Sitake, who is the head coach at Brigham Young," Pate said on "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday. "This has been pretty widely reported in Penn State circles, so if you're following Penn State, this is not news to you.
"If you're not following Penn State, that probably came out of left field a little bit. I have no clue how advanced their talks had been with him.”
Pate thinks Sitake would want to coach in the Big 12 championship regardless of his status with PSU.
Still, things could get murky for the Cougars' CFP ambitions if Sitake takes the job at Penn State and BYU loses to Texas Tech on Saturday.
It's unclear if BYU would let Sitake coach in the CFP if he accepted the job with the Nittany Lions. North Texas will allow Eric Morris to coach in the CFP if the program makes it despite taking the Oklahoma State job. Ole Miss is not letting Lane Kiffin coach the Rebels after deciding to leave for LSU.
The CFP selection committee could penalize the Cougars in the final rankings on Sunday if Sitake will not coach BYU in the playoffs. The Cougars are already on the bubble before the Big 12 championship.
A loss to TTU and Sitake leaving for Penn State would likely spell the end of BYU's chances of making the CFP.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.
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