PROVO, Utah — After earning its seventh straight victory on Saturday, BYU has advanced to higher rankings in both the major national polls released on Sunday.
From it's No. 13 ranking last week, BYU, now 7-0 for the first time since going 9-0 in 2020, advanced two positions to No. 11 in The Associated Press Top 25 and one spot to No. 12 in the American Football Coaches Association's US LBM Coaches Poll published by USA TODAY Sports.
BYU has been ranked in the last five national polls after first entering the top 25 at No. 22 in week five of the polls to receive a top-25 ranking for the first time since week five of the 2022 season.
This week's ranking for BYU is its highest in the AP Top 25 since being ranked No. 10 in the week five poll in 2021. It is also the highest Coaches Poll ranking since being No. 10 in week six of 2021.
In their second season in the BIg 12, the Cougars are currently 4-0 in conference play after Saturday's dramatic 38-35 victory over Oklahoma State. BYU's other Big 12 wins this year have included a 41-19 win over Arizona the previous week in LaVell Edwards Stadium, a wire-to-wire 34-28 road victory over favored Baylor in Waco, Texas, and a dominating 38-9 home truimph to hand nationally ranked Kansas State its only loss of the season.
The 7-0 start achieved by Kalani Sitake's team marks the fifth time in school history and second occasion under Sitake that the Cougars have earned a 7-0 record. The Cougars started 9-0 as an FBS independent program under Sitake in 2020 on their way to an 11-1 record and No. 11 final ranking. BYU also earned 7-0 records in 2001 (under Gary Crowton), 1984 and 1979 (both under Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards).
Three Big 12 teams were placed in the top 25 by voters this week, with fellow unbeaten Iowa State (7-0) the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 10 in both polls. Following BYU at No. 11/12, Kansas State (6-1) moved up one ranking in both polls to No. 16. Cincinnati and Arizona State are listed among teams receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.
High-scoring SMU (6-1), who BYU kept out of the end zone in an 18-15 road win in week two, is ranked No. 22 in the polls after a 40-10 win over Stanford this week.
Oregon (7-0) out of the Big Ten is the new top-ranked team in both rankings after previous No. 1 Texas was upset by Georgia (6-1) in an SEC matchup, with the Bulldogs now ranked as the new No. 2 team in both polls. The Big Ten's Penn State (6-0) and Ohio State (5-1) are No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in both polls, while Texas (6-1) received the No. 5 ranking from AP while unbeaten Miami (7-0) from the ACC earned that designation by the coaches.
This week's AP ranking marks BYU’s 284th overall appearance in the AP poll.
This week the Cougars travel to face UCF on Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. ET kick in Orlando being featured nationally on ESPN.