PROVO -- BYU (8-1) jumped five spots to No. 15 in this week’s Bowl Championship Series standings while being ranked No. 16 and No. 17 in the other major polls.
The Cougars moved up one spot to No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll while maintaining their No. 17 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25. BYU fell one spot to No. 16 in the Harris Interactive Poll.
The BCS standings feature three Mountain West Conference teams in the top 15 with Utah (9-0) ranked eighth, TCU (9-1) 12th and the Cougars 15th. Utah has the highest BCS ranking among teams from a conference without automatic qualification into a BCS bowl, two spots ahead of No. 10 Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference.
BYU, TCU and Utah are also ranked among the top 20 teams in the major polls for the third straight week. Utah is ranked No. 9 in the coaches’ and Harris polls and No. 10 in AP, while TCU is No. 11 in AP and USA Today and No. 12 in Harris.
Texas, last week’s No. 1, fell to No. 5 in AP, No. 6 in Harris and No. 7 in the coaches’ poll. The Longhorns are No. 4 in the BCS standings with Alabama, Texas Tech and Penn State occupying the top three spots. Alabama is also the new No. 1 in the major polls, followed by Penn State and Texas Tech in the coaches’ and Harris rankings while the Red Raiders are rated No. 2 and the Nittany Lions No. 3 in AP.
The highest-ranked team representing each Division I conference in the BCS standings are No. 1 Alabama (SEC), No. 2 Texas Tech (Big 12), No. 3 Penn State (Big Ten), No. 7 USC (Pac-10), No. 8 Utah (MWC), No. 10 Boise State (WAC), No. 17 Ball State (MAC), No. 19 North Carolina (ACC) and No. 25 West Virginia (Big East). No teams from Conference USA or the Sun Belt Conference are currently ranked in the BCS top-25 standings.
BYU has won 29 of its last 32 games and been ranked each week since cracking the polls on Nov. 18, 2007. BYU opened the 2008 season ranked No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 16 in The Associated Press Top 25.
This week the Cougars host San Diego State at LaVell Edwards Stadium in a noon MT kick being televised nationally on The Mtn.