The Utah football program has appeared in the College Football Playoff rankings 51 times.

The Utes have never been higher than they are right now.

Utah came in at No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season released Tuesday.

Utah’s schedule has been among the weakest of the playoff contenders, ranking No. 83 nationally in strength of schedule. But the committee didn’t seem particularly concerned about that Tuesday.

That SOS will improve this weekend, too, when BYU comes into Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Cougars came in at No. 9 — two spots lower than where they are ranked in the AP Top 25.

And one of the surprises of the CFP rankings directly impacted BYU.

Notre Dame — ranked No. 4 in the AP poll — came in at No. 11.

“They are a very good football team, but when you look at Notre Dame’s schedule and the wins that they have versus the teams that are ahead of them, they don’t have that signature win right now,” committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said on ESPN.

“They lost in their only top 25 matchup at BYU. Their next best win is on a neutral site against Wisconsin. They’ve got a great opportunity in front of them this weekend at home versus Miami to get that signature win that I think they need to move up in the rankings.”

That could help push the Cougars up, too — as would a win against the Utes.

The Big 12 was well represented in the committee’s initial rankings, with five teams earning spots: Utah, BYU, No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 17 Houston and No. 22 Arizona.

If the season ended today, Utah would earn a first-round bye in the playoff, while BYU would hit the road to face No. 9 UCLA.

CFP rankings