PROVO, Utah — BYU received a No. 12 ranking in both The Associated Press Top 25 and AFCA Coaches Poll on Sunday, falling four spots in both polls after its lone blemish of the year at top-10 Texas Tech.
The Cougars (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) fell from the ranks of unbeaten teams with its setback in Lubbock against the Red Raiders, who moved up one spot into BYU's place last week at No. 8 in both rankings. The Cougars were also ranked No. 7 and Texas Tech No. 8 in last week's initial College Football Playoff rankings, which will be updated on Tuesday. BYU was the last undefeated team to lose a game among all Big 12 teams for the second consecutive year after starting 9-0 overall in 2024.
BYU spent the past two weeks in the AP's top 10 and the last three weeks in the top 10 of the AFCA Poll while building an 8-0 record to be among the final four teams to be undefeated. With this week's No. 12 ranking, the Cougars have been ranked 300 times overall in the AP poll since the program's first national ranking in 1974.
Top 12
The three remaining teams with unblemished records again occupy the top three spots in both polls, with Ohio State (9-0) at No. 1, followed by Indiana (10-0) and Texas A&M. Alabama (8-1) and Georgia (8-1) round out the top five according to the media and the coaches.
AP voters moved Ole MIss (9-1) ahead of Oregon (8-1) at No. 6, dropping the Ducks to No. 7 following their last-second field goal victory at Iowa on Saturday. After Texas Tech at No. 8, Notre Dame (7-2) is also up one ranking to No. 9 among voters, while at No. 10 the media favored Oklahoma (7-2) and the coaches preferred Texas (7-2). The two former BIg 12 programs now in the SEC then flipped at No. 11 in the two polls just ahead of BYU, who is also tied with Georgia Tech (8-1) at No. 12 in the AFCA Poll.
Big 12
Four Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 25 this week, with Utah (7-2) and Cincinnati (7-2) receiving No. 15 and No. 22 rankings, respectively, to join No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 12 BYU in the polls. Three other conference teams—Houston (8-2), Arizona State (6-3) and Arizona (6-3)—received votes among teams listed outside the top 25. The conference race features Texas Tech (6-1), BYU (5-1) and Cincinnati (5-1) as teams with only one league defeat, followed by two-loss Houston (5-2), Utah (4-2) and Arizona State 4-2).
This week BYU hosts TCU (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo for an 8:15 kickoff on ESPN. The Horned Frogs will be BYU's fifth home opponent this season. The Cougars have previously earned home victories this year in LaVell Edwards Stadium over Portland State (69-0), Stanford (27-3), West Virginia (38-24) and then No. 23/22 Utah (24-21). BYU is 4-1 on the road with wins at East Carolina (34-13), Colorado (24-21), Arizona (33-27 2OT) and Iowa State (41-27) before Saturday's loss at No. 8 Texas Tech (29-7).