PROVO, Utah — Following its 26-20 double-overtime victory over top-10 Baylor Saturday night, BYU football has moved up to No. 12 in The Associated Press Top 25 national rankings and No. 14 in the USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll.
The two national polls were released Sunday with AP voters jumping the Cougars nine spots from No. 21 last week, while the coaches rated BYU 11 places higher from its previous ranking at No. 25. The Cougars made the biggest jump in the AFCA poll, and moved the second-most ground in in the AP rankings. Kentucky, coming off its upset at Florida, had an 11-place jump in AP to No. 9 and moved 10 places to No. 10 in the AFCA.
Baylor, who was ranked No. 8 (AFCA) and No. 9 (AP) last week, fell to No. 17 in AP and No. 19 in the coaches' poll after the back-and-forth loss to the Cougars in Provo.
In the victory over Baylor, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake posted his 50th win at BYU while helping his team earn the program's sixth win over a top-10 team in program history and the second under Sitake, including a 24-21 win at Camp Randall Stadium over No. 6 Wisconsin in 2018. Saturday's victory was highlighted by clutch offensive play and a consistently stout defensive performance as the Cougars defeated the reigning Big 12 Conference Champion Bears. BYU is set to join the Big 12 Conference next season.
Georgia supplanted Alabama as the No. 1 team in the nation according to AP voters while the Tide maintained the top spot in the coaches' poll.
The rest of the top 10 in the media poll had Ohio State at No. 3 after No. 2 Alabama, followed by No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 USC, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Kentucky and upcoming BYU opponent Arkansas at No. 10. Michigan State received the No. 11 ranking, just ahead of BYU.
In addition to the AFCA poll differing to AP in rating the top-two spots, the coaches have Clemson and Michigan flip-flopped with the Tigers at No. 4 and the Wolverines at No. 5, and also Oklahoma State and USC, with the Cowboys at No. 7 and the Trojans at No. 8. Meanwhile, Michigan State is at No. 9 with Kentucky at No. 10. Ohio State is No. 3 and Oklahoma No. 6 in both polls. Arkansas is ranked No. 11, according to the coaches, with NC State and Miami in the 12 and 13 spots just ahead of BYU.
Oregon, BYU's next opponent, maintained its No. 24 spot in the AFCA poll while re-entering the AP rankings at No. 25 after its 70-14 win over Eastern Washington. BYU will play the Ducks in Eugene on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PDT on FOX. Fans can also listen to live play-by-play on BYU Radio SiriusXM 143, BYURadio.org/BYU Radio App or KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.
BYU's rankings this week in the two national polls equals the same rankings it earned after the regular season last year when the Cougars were No. 12 in AP and No. 14 by the coaches with a 10-2 record. This week's AP rankings marks BYU’s 262nd appearance in the AP poll and 29th in the last three seasons.