BYU stays at No. 8 following bye week

PROVO, Utah — The top-eight teams in the national polls went unchanged this week as undefeated BYU stayed at No. 8 in both The Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll released Sunday.

The Cougars (8-0) were one of five teams in the top eight that did not play this past weekend, lending to the lack of movement among the top teams. Alabama (6-0) again claimed the top spot by the AP voters followed by Notre Dame (8-0), Ohio State (3-0), Clemson (7-1), Texas A&M (5-1). Florida (5-1), Cincinnati (7-0) and BYU (8-0). Indiana (4-0) moved up one spot to No. 9 while Wisconsin jumped three places to round out the top 10. 

The top-10 teams ranked by the coaches remained the same as the previous week with Florida and Texas A&M differing from AP at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, while Miami held the No. 9 slot and Indiana stayed at No. 10.  

BYU's No. 8 ranking this season boasts the program's highest placement in the respective polls since earning a No. 7 ranking in AP in 2009 and being rated No. 7 by the coaches in 2008.  BYU is off to an 8-0 start for the first time since 2001 and the fourth time overall in school history. The Cougars also won their first eight games in 1979 and 1984. 

BYU has been ranked in each of the 10 regular-season polls released this year. The last time the Cougars were ranked in 10 consecutive weeks during a season was in 2008 when BYU was ranked in all 17 polls of the season to bridge a string of 29 consecutive weeks ranked from Nov. 18, 2007 to Oct. 18, 2009. 

Prior to 2020, the last time BYU was ranked in the top 25 was during the 2018 season when the Cougars were ranked as high as No. 20 after starting the season 3-1 with a victories over Arizona on the road and No. 6 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. 

In the NCAA statistical rankings, BYU is the only FBS team ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense (9th; 45.3 ppg), scoring defense (6th; 13.9 ppg), total offense (8th; 533.4 ypg) and total defense (6th; 284.9 ypg). Reflecting the strength of their No. 8 ranking in the polls, the Cougars have achieved top-10 ratings in 10 different NCAA statistical categories overall. 

BYU will host North Alabama on Saturday, Nov. 21 in LaVell Edwards Stadium in a 1 p.m. MST kickoff on BYUtv and ESPN3 and the ESPN App.