Is it time to talk about the College Football Playoff after BYU's 6-0 start?

PROVO — For six consecutive games, No. 13 BYU has taken care of business, won in impressive — and sometimes less-than — fashion against a slate of teams that that include SMU, Kansas State and most recently with the Cougars' 41-19 homecoming victory over Arizona.

The Cougars (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) are 6-0 for just the sixth time in program history, and the second in the past four years, at the midway mark of their second season in the Big 12 Conference. A bowl game is all-but guaranteed, if not more, based on meeting the minimum standard of six victories and BYU's broad national fanbase.

A worthy goal at the start of the year, when the Cougars were projected to finish No. 13 in the conference, that goal is now higher. But by how much?

"We're only 14 in the country; we're better than that," said BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff after completing 18-of-32 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns Saturday afternoon against the Wildcats. "We've got a really good football club here. I'm really excited for what we're going to do the rest of the season.

"6-0 is awesome, and it's awesome to say that we got bowl eligible — great — but we just want to get better and better every week, and these guys have the right mindset for it. So I'm excited to see what we do as the season goes on."

At a school with a quarterback pedigree that includes Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Robbie Bosco, Ty Detmer, Steve Sarkisian, John Beck, Max Hall, Taysom Hill, Zach Wilson and more recently Jaren Hall, Retzlaff is quietly adding his name to the ledger at QB U. with 1,426 yards, 14 touchdowns to a nation-high nine different receivers, and five interceptions for a QB rating of 65.5 that rates No. 49 nationally by ESPN.

"I got to talk to Steve Young before the game. ... He called me a swashbuckler. But he said he was, too, so I'm taking that as a compliment," Retzlaff said. "It's just incredible. I get to walk around and talk to Robbie Bosco every day, all these great quarterbacks and great players around the building.

"And they do nothing but want to build us up. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be where we're at. ... But I'm more grateful for the guys in the locker room doing this for me."

But how high can this team soar? What's the ceiling for the BYU football team?

For now, in the moment of Week 7 of the 2024 season, as of Oct. 13, the sky's the limit until the second half of the season starting Friday against Oklahoma State (8:15 p.m. MDT, ESPN).

"I mean, we are bowl eligible," said cornerback Jakob Robinson, who had his 10th career interception against the Wildcats, "but that's not really what I have been thinking of. I just want to get to the national championship."

Here we go again, right? BYU finds a little success, and then it immediately goes to their heads, right? Big 12 titles, CFP appearances, and national championships for the team that hasn't won any major hardware in the sport since 1984.

And yet ....

Here's the thing about the Cougars' ambitions: they should have them, and deserve to have them — at least for the moment. The preseason No. 13 team in the Big 12 is ranked No. 13 by Associated Press voters, one of 11 teams nationally yet to have taken a loss, and just two in the Big 12 with No. 9 Iowa State.

That's important, because BYU's ambitions no longer lie solely with "style points" or impressing the College Football Playoff committee, like they did in 2020 when the Cougars rose as high as No. 8 by the AP and No. 13 by the CFP en route to an 11-1 season as an FBS independent.

With automatic bids to the 12-team playoff guaranteed to the five highest-ranked conference champions, the Big 12 championship in Arlington, Texas, will guarantee a spot in the playoff most years.

In the immortal words of the late Raiders owner Al Davis: Just win, baby.

The Cougars will be favored plenty the rest of the way — likely at least until the Nov. 9 trip to in-state rival Utah — and could face equally unbeaten Iowa State at AT&T Stadium in a postseason matchup absolutely no one saw coming.

They're currently rated No. 9 in Yahoo Sports' Top 10, No. 4 in On3's most recent Playoff projection, and No. 9 in CBS Sports' most recent playoff predictor.

It's still a dream, and dreams require work to be made into reality. But right now, why not allow the Cougars to dream something more than the Independence Bowl or Alamo Bowl?

"It's cool, but the bowl game is not what we want," BYU receiver Parker Kingston said. "We want to go to the Playoff; we want to go to the national championship. That's what we're looking forward to, and not really settling (for) a bowl game this year."

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