PROVO, Utah — BYU received a No. 11 final ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 and a No. 12 final rating in the AFCA Coaches Poll released on Tuesday following the conclusion of the College Football Playoff on Monday night.
The Cougars (12-2, 8-1 Big 12) received their highest final AP ranking since also being ranked No. 11 following an 11-1 season in 2020 while earning their fourth overall final top-25 ranking in that span over the past six seasons. The Cougars are coming off back-to-back seasons contending for the CFP and earning bowl victories over ranked teams as a member of the Big 12 Conference. BYU received a No. 13 final ranking last year after an 11-2 season, and were ranked No. 19 in 2021 after a 10-3 campaign as an FBS independent.
Voters among the media and coaches both moved the Cougars up one spot from their last ranking assessments made prior to the 2025 CFP and bowl season on Dec. 7. Since then, BYU defeated No. 22 Georgia Tech 25-21 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 27 in Orlando to finish the 2026 season with 12 wins for only the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2001.
The Cougars have won 12 or more games in 1980 (12-1, No. 12 final ranking), 1984 (13-0, No. 1 final ranking), 1996 (14-1, No. 5 final ranking), 2001 (12-2, No. 25 final ranking) and 2025 (12-2, No. 11 final ranking).
FINAL POLLS & THE BIG 12
Five Big 12 teams finished in the final AP Top 25, with Texas Tech at No. 7, followed by No. 11 BYU, No. 14 Utah, No. 22 Houston and No. 25 TCU. Four conference schools were in the final AFCA poll with Texas Tech again at No. 7, BYU at No. 12, Utah at No. 14 and Houston at No. 19. TCU received votes just outside the top 25 along with Arizona, who received votes in both polls.
National champion Indiana (16-0) headlined the AP top 10 with CFP runner-up Miami (13-3) at No. 2, followed by No. 3 Ole Miss (13-2), No. 4 Oregon (13-2), No. 5 Ohio State (12-2) No. 6 Georgia (12-2), No. 7 Texas Tech (12-2), No. 8 Texas A&M (11-2), No. 9 Alabama (11-4) and No. 10 Notre Dame (10-2). The AFCA was in agreement other than favoring Georgia over Ohio State at Nos. 5-6, and voting Oklahoma (10-3) at No. 10 instead of the Fighting Irish.
View the final polls.
BYU IN THE 2025 POLLS
Despite its No. 13 finish in 2024, BYU started the season outside the preseason Top 25 polls. With true freshman quaterback Bear Bachmeier leading BYU to an 8-0 start to the season, the Cougars first broke into the AFCA poll at No. 25 in week 2 and evenutally debuted in the AP Top 25 at No. 25 in week 5 with a 3-0 record. The Cougars would gradually climb into the top 10 (at No. 10 in week 9 from the coaches, and at No. 10 in week 10 from the media) before achieving a season-high ranking of No. 7 in AP and No. 8 in the AFCA in week 11 with an 8-0 record.
BYU fell to No. 12 after losing on the road to No. 8/9 (AP/AFCA) Texas Tech in week 12 before spending three straight weeks at No. 11 in both national polls to conclude the regular season. After dropping a second game to No. 4/5 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Champsionship game, BYU fell one spot to No. 12 in AP and two places to No. 13 in the AFCA poll just outside the CFP playoff field.
Historically, BYU has been ranked 304 times overall in the AP poll since the program's first national ranking in 1974.
CFP Rankings
This year the Cougars were included in all six of the CFP rankings, receiving rankings of No. 7, No. 12, No. 11, No. 11, No. 11 and No. 12. Last year during the first year of the 12-team playoff, the Cougars were also in contention for a playoff spot being ranked in all six CFP rankings when they were rated at No. 9, No. 6, No. 14, No. 19, No. 18 and No. 17.
Path to 12-2 in 2025
The Cougars were perfect at home this season in LaVell Edwards Stadium with wins over Portland State (69-0), Stanford (27-3), West Virginia (38-24), No. 15 Utah (24-21), TCU (44-13) and UCF (41-21). BYU finished the regular season 5-1 on the road with wins at East Carolina (34-13), Colorado (24-21), No. 18 Arizona (33-27 2OT), Iowa State (41-27) and Cincinnati (26-14) with a lone setback at No. 4 Texas Tech (29-7).
In their third year in the Big 12, the Cougars advanced to the Big 12 Championship game for the first time after finishing tied atop the standings for the second straight year. After not playing in the game last year due to four-way tiebreakers, this year BYU was tied alone with No. 4 Texas Tech at 8-1 in league games to earn a spot opposite the top-seeded Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Cougars suffered only their second loss of the year, both to the CFP-bound Red Raiders, falling to Texas Tech (34-7).
The Cougars concluded the season becoming the People's National Champions with their Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over No. 22 Georgia Tech (25-21) in Orlando.