Football moves up to No. 21 in AP Top 25, enters Coaches poll at No. 23

PROVO, Utah (Sept. 14, 2014) — Off to a 3-0 start, BYU moved up in the national rankings released Sunday, jumping four spots to No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 while entering the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll for the first time at No. 23. 

The Cougars are coming off a 33-25 home victory over Houston after opening the year with road wins over Connecticut (35-10) and Texas (41-7).

Moving from No. 25 in last week’s AP poll to No. 21 this week, BYU has earned a national ranking in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2009 when the Cougars went 11-2 and finished the year at No. 12 in both major polls. BYU has received a national ranking during eight of 10 seasons under head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

BYU entered the Amway Coaches Poll at No. 23 after being listed just out of that ranking last week in others receiving votes. The last time BYU was ranked in the Coaches poll was in the final poll of the 2011 season, when the Cougars finished its first season of independence ranked No. 25.

BYU joined Ole Miss in making the second-highest jump in the AP poll this week. The Rebels also moved up four places from No. 14 to No. 10 while South Carolina made the biggest advancement with a 10-spot jump from No. 24 to No. 14 after knocking off last week’s No. 6 team Georgia at home. The Bulldogs fell seven spots to No. 13 in this week’s AP Top 25, while USC had the largest drop, going from No. 9 to No. 17 after losing at Boston College.

Florida State again tops both the AP and Amway Coaches rankings released Sunday. Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma and Auburn maintained their respective places in the AP’s top five this week while the Coaches rankings saw Oregon and Oklahoma flip-flop spots with the Ducks taking the No. 3 spot behind No. 2 Alabama. The Sooners moved down one position to No. 4 with Auburn remaining at No. 5.

BYU and Notre Dame represent independent programs in the two major top-25 rankings. The 3-0 Fighting Irish moved up two spots this week to No. 9 in both polls.

The Cougars are also ranked No. 17 in the ESPN Power Rankings, which is voted on by a 13-member ESPN panel. BYU moved up five spots from its No. 22 position last week.

This week BYU hosts the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MT in a nationally televised matchup at LaVell Edwards Stadium on ESPN. Off to a 2-1 start and receiving votes in both polls, Virginia will be facing its third top-25 opponent in four games when it comes to Provo on Saturday.