PROVO, Utah — BYU football moved up to No. 7 in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 8 in the US LBM Coaches Poll administered by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) relased on Sunday.
Coming off a 27-20 home victory over Arizona State on Saturday, the Cougars (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) moved up one spot in both polls to enter their seventh straight week ranked in the top 10 this season as they prepare for their second top-10 matchup of the season at No. 3/4 Utah this Saturday (10 a.m. MT on ABC).
No. 2 If You'll Have It
While seven of the eight top-10 teams in action this past weekend were triumphant, the remarkable streak of the AP No. 2-ranked team being upset entered a third consecutive week as No. 2 Ohio State fell on Saturday to unranked USC, 30-18, in the LA Coliseum. The prior week second-ranked BYU fell in double-overtime at unranked UCF after the then-No. 8 Cougars had taken down No. 2 Notre Dame the week before in a featured top-10 matchup in Provo. This week Georgia retuns to the No. 2 ranking, a spot it held ealier for five weeks, as the only second-ranked team to win since week 1 of the rankings.
Top 10 This Week
No. 1 Miami (8-0) rallied against unranked North Carolina, 38-35, to stay unbeaten and keep its top-rated status among voters in both polls. Georgia (7-1) filled the void at No. 2 in both rankings as Ohio State (6-2) fell to No. 11 in AP and No. 10 in the AFCA with its second loss of the year. Reigning national champion Indiana (8-1) moved up one to No. 3 in the AFCA but fell two spots to No. 6 in AP as Utah (8-0) jumped three places to No. 3 according to media voters after its 49-25 win at Cincinnati. The Utes are ranked No. 4 by the coaches, while AP moved up Notre Dame (7-1) one spot to No. 4, with unbeaten UCLA (8-0) climbing two places to No. 5 in both polls.
Just in front of BYU in AP is Indiana, while the AFCA has Notre Dame at No. 6 followed by idle Kentucky (7-1). The Wildcasts are ranked No. 8 just behind the Cougars in the media poll, while idle Alabama (6-2) advanced one place to No. 9 in both rankings. Texas (6-2) returned to the top 10 in AP with its victory while staying at No. 11 in the AFCA after the Buckeyes landed at No. 10 according to the coaches.
Big 12
The Big 12 has two teams in the top 10 and five overall in the top 25 of both major polls. After Utah (No. 3/4) and BYU (No. 7/8) in the top 10, Texas Tech is No. 13 in both rankings, followed by Houston (No. 17/18) and Arizona (No. 24/22). Oklahoma State (5-3) fell from the AP rankings after a 51-49 defeat at Iowa State, receiving votes in both polls. Cincinnati received a vote in the AFCA poll.
BYU in the Polls
Last year, BYU was ranked as high as No. 8 in both the AP and AFCA polls after achieving an 8-0 start to the season. Coming off a 12-2 campaign and 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl title, BYU entered the 2026 season in the preseason polls ranked 15th by the coaches and tied for No. 14 with USC by AP voters, which marked the second-highest preseason AP ranking for BYU in program history (No. 10 in 1985).
After dropping back to No. 15 in the AP rankings following its 63-7 season-opening win over Utah Tech, BYU returned to the same slot in the AP poll where it finished last season at No. 11 following its 28-17 conference win over Arizona while the coaches rated BYU at No. 13. BYU moved up to No. 9 in both polls following its 41-23 road win at Colorado State of the Pac-12, before dropping to No. 10 in AP during a bye week.
The Cougars moved up to No. 8 in both polls after a hard-fought 17-10 road win through the rain and injuries at TCU and stayed at No. 8 following its 24-10 home win over Iowa State in a Friday night matchup. BYU jumped to No. 2 with its 28-24 victory over then No. 2 Notre Dame. After suffering a 39-31 double-overtime road setback at UCF and dropping to No. 8/9 last week, the Cougars rebounded with a 27-20 home victory over Arizona State to earn No. 7/8 rankings this week.
Historically, BYU has been ranked 314 times overall in the AP poll since the program's first national ranking in 1974. The Cougars have been ranked in each of the last 23 AP polls released since entering last year's AP rankings at No. 25 with a 3-0 record. BYU boasts a 45-12 record historically when playing as an AP Top 25 team.