On Saturday, no. 9 BYU lost control of its Big 12 championship destiny when it lost on the road to rival Utah. On Tuesday, we learned that BYU's at-large playoff hopes are alive and well when the Cougars came in at no. 10 in the CFP rankings. For BYU, its focus is to win out and be in position to make the playoffs.

However, simply winning out may not be enough. For the Cougars to feel really confident in a playoff berth going into championship weekend, it could use some help from the teams around them in the rankings.

In this article, we will highlight the 12 national games that could determind BYU's playoff hopes.

Week 11

In terms of the quantity of games that impact BYU, this weekend is the most important of the final three weeks. There are five games this week that will materially impact BYU's CFP chances.

1. No. 12 Texas Tech at no. 25 Oklahoma State
2. No. 13 Wake Forest at SMU
3. No. 8 Tennessee at Texas A&M
4. No. 18 USC at no. 8 Indiana
5. No. 6 Texas at no. 21 LSU

It's in BYU's best interest that a few teams suffer road setbacks: no. 6 Texas, no. 8 Tennessee, no. 12 Texas Tech, and no. 13 Wake Forest. A loss by Texas or Tennessee could open a path for BYU to move up the rankings and be safely inside the playoff. No. 8 Indiana does not have a top 25 win at this point of the season, so their resume will crumble if they suffer a second loss. A USC upset over Indiana would knock the Hoosiers below the Cougars.

The Wake Forest and Texas Tech games, however, may impact BYU's CFP hopes the most.

The biggest threat to the Cougars right now is the teams right behind behind in the rankings. Wake Forest and Texas Tech are threats to leapfrog BYU if they win out. It would really, really help BYU if Wake Forecast and/or Texas Tech lose.

The numbers suggest there is a strong chance at least one or two of these games will go in BYU's favor. There is just a 6% chance that all five of these teams ranked around BYU will win on Saturday.

Week 12

In week 12, a pair of SEC games and a pair of Big Ten games will impact BYU's playoff positioning. Of the teams ranked around BYU, Indiana is the only team that will be favored per FPI.

1. No. 21 LSU at no. 8 Tennessee
2. No. 11 Kentucky at no. 22 Missouri
3. No. 4 UCLA at Michigan
4. No. 9 Indiana at Washington

In week 12, UCLA and Indiana face road tests at Michigan and at Washington, respectively. This is also the biggest remaining test for no. 11 Kentucky. If the Wildcats earn a road win over a top 25 Missouri team, they will probably leapfrog BYU in the rankings. BYU needs Kentucky to lose one more game, and this is their biggest remaining challenge.

Per FPI, there is only a 7% chance that Tennessee, Kentucky, UCLA, and Indiana will win. The odds suggest at least one team will help BYU this week.

Week 13

The 13th and final weekend of the regular season, at least on paper, may not provide as many chances for BYU to move up in the rankings. However, BYU's Big 12 title hopes could be determined as Houston takes on Baylor. In most tiebreaker scenarios, BYU needs Houston to lose one more game to make it to Arlington.

Houston probably isn't an at-large threat to BYU, but Houston could become a bid-stealer if they make it to Arlington and beat Utah. It's in BYU's best interest that Houston drops at least one game down the stretch. Here are the three games that impact BYU the most in week 13.

1. No. 6 Texas at Texas A&M
2. Baylor at no. 14 Houston
3. No. 18 USC at no. 4 UCLA

For BYU's sake, it would be best if Texas A&M beats Texas and Baylor beats Houston. BYU's rooting interests for UCLA-USC are contingent on the results of the next few weeks. If USC beats Indiana, for example, BYU will want UCLA to take care of USC and knock the Trojans out of the playoff picture. If USC goes into that game with three losses, a win over UCLA can only help BYU.

What are the chances that Texas, Houston, and UCLA take care of business in week 13? 23% chance per FPI.