BYU Moves Up in National Polls

PROVO -- Following a 54-3 victory at Tulane on Saturday, BYU moved to No. 7 in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll released Sunday.

The Cougars advanced two places in AP and three spots in the coaches’ poll. BYU’s No. 7 ranking in the AP Top 25 is the program’s highest AP ranking since finishing the 1996 season at No. 5. The Cougars enter the top 10 in the coaches’ poll again after earning a ranking as high as No. 7 last season.

Three Mountain West Conference teams are ranked in the top 25 in both polls with TCU (1-0) and Utah (2-0) joining BYU in each poll this season. In the latest rankings, TCU is ranked No. 15 in both polls, while AP ranks Utah at No. 16 and the coaches’ give the Utes a No. 18 ranking.

With a 2-0 record, the Cougars are now 150-44 when ranked in the Top 25 and have won 19 of their last 22 games as a ranked team, dating back to 2006.

Last week BYU made one of the largest jumps in the polls in more than 30 years, going from No. 20 to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 and from No. 24 to No. 12 in the coaches’ poll after a 14-13 victory over No. 3 Oklahoma. Notre Dame and UCLA both leaped 12 spots in the AP poll in 1998 and 1976, respectively, one spot more than BYU’s 11-position jump last week.

Florida tops the AP Top 25 released Sunday, followed by Texas, USC, Alabama and Mississippi. Penn State is ranked No. 6, with BYU, California, LSU and Boise State rounding out the top 10. The top four teams are identical in the coaches’ poll, followed by Penn State, Mississippi, LSU, California, BYU and Boise State. Oklahoma is ranked No. 12 in both polls after bouncing back from its loss to BYU by pounding Idaho State 64-0 on Saturday.

The Cougars will take on Florida State (1-1) on Saturday in LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on VERSUS beginning at 5 p.m. MT.

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