BYU enters the Top 10 in national rankings

PROVO, Utah — BYU moved into the top 10 in the national polls released Sunday, earning a No. 10 ranking in both The Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll.

The Cougars jumped five spots from No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, while AP voters moved BYU up three spots from its No. 13 ranking last week. Coming off a 34-20 win at Utah State on Friday, the Cougars are 5-0 to begin the season for just the seventh time in program history and first time in back-to-back seasons. Last season BYU started 9-0 and earned a ranking as high as No. 8 before finishing the season 11-1 with a No. 11 final ranking. 

Alabama, Georgia, Iowa and Penn State are the top-rated teams in both polls that include the same 10 teams in the top-10 with only slight differences in the order. Cincinnati is ranked No. 5 in AP and Oklahoma No. 6 while the two teams are rated in reverse order by the coaches. Ohio State at No. 7, like BYU at No. 10, received the same placements in both polls, while Oregon and Michigan occupy No. 8 and No. 9 with AP voters favoring the Ducks and coaches the Wolverines.  

Nine teams in last week's top-25 rankings lost this past week, including six in the top 15. The AP introduced five new teams to the rankings and the AFCA poll had four newcomers. Among them, Arizona State, who suffered its only loss to BYU in week 3, re-entered the rankings at No. 22 in AP and No. 25 by the coaches after defeating previously ranked UCLA on the road Saturday night.

In addition to ASU, Kentucky (No. 16), Texas (No. 21), SMU (No. 24) and San Diego State (No. 25) joined the AP rankings on Sunday. New this week to the AFCA poll are NC State (No. 22), Texas (no. 23), SMU (No. 24) and ASU (No. 25).

This week BYU will host regional rival Boise State on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The game will kick at 1:30 p.m. MDT in a featured network television broadcast on ABC.