PROVO, Utah — With its third 4-0 start under head coach Kalani Sitake, BYU entered The Associated Press Top 25 and AFCA Coaches Poll at No. 22 in both national rankings released on Sunday.
The Cougars are ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since week five of the 2022 season.
BYU is coming off a 38-9 victory over No. 13 Kansas State on Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium. It was BYU's eighth win over a ranked team during the Sitake era.
The Wildcats fell to No. 23 (AP) and No. 25 (AFCA) in the two polls after suffering their first defeat of the season at the hands of the Cougars.
Overall, five Big 12 teams are currently ranked with Utah (No. 10 both polls), Iowa State (No. 18, AP; No. 19, AFCA) and Oklahoma State (No. 20, both polls) joining BYU and K-State among this week's top 25. UCF and Arizona are receiving votes in both polls while Colorado received votes in the Coaches poll. SMU, who BYU beat in week two, is currently receiving votes in the polls after a 66-42 win over TCU on Saturday.
The top five teams remained largely unchanged this week as Georgia and Texas remained atop the AFCA and AP rankings, respectively, with each ranking No. 2 in the other poll. Ohio State and Alabama are consensus No. 3 and No. 4 while Ole Miss maintained its No. 5 ranking by the coaches as Tennessee leapfrogged the Rebels to No. 5 in AP after the Volenteers defeated Oklahoma on Saturday.
This week's AP ranking marks BYU’s 280th overall appearance in the AP poll.
In its next game, BYU (4-0) travels to face Baylor (2-2) this week at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Bears are coming off a 38-31 loss in overtime at Colorado last week. Kickoff on Saturday is set for 11 a.m. CDT/10 a.m. MDT and will be televised nationally on FS1.