BYU is 4-0 for the first time since 2021 and is now ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25.
The Cougars are coming off a 38-9 home win over then-No. 13 Kansas State, despite being a touchdown underdog. The 29-point win is the largest margin of victory over a top-15-ranked team in program history. The Cougars held Kansas State without a touchdown for the first time since 2020.
With Saturday’s win, alongside an 18-15 win at SMU on Sept. 6, BYU has now held two opponents without a touchdown for the first time since 2012 and we’re only 4 games into the season. As a reminder, this is the same SMU team that had averaged 54+ points at home over the past two seasons and which hung 66 points on Big 12 member TCU last week.
The defense is for real, special teams have played fantastically all year (punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns), and the offense is slowly coming along.
ESPN’s Strength of Record has BYU at No. 3 right behind Georgia and Tennessee, and right in front of rival Utah which just took down then-No. 14 Oklahoma State. Under ESPN’s efficiencies category, BYU checks in at No. 13.
Most impressively, BYU has NOT allowed a touchdown to a Power 4 team this year, despite SMU and Kansas State being some of the most high-powerhouse offenses in the country. Outside of the BYU game, the Mustangs have averaged 51 points per game this year and the Wildcats have averaged 35.
BYU is also one of only two schools (Georgia) with two Top 30 wins so far this season. Lastly, the Cougars have also beaten the spread in every game, and yet, unexplainably, nine voters didn’t rank BYU at all this week.
Here’s a look at all the AP voters who left BYU off their ballot and why they should explain why they left a well-deserved Cougar team off their ballot.
Adam Zucker, CBS Sports Network
Adam has Boise State (2-1) at No. 19. Yes, the Broncos lost a close game to Oregon, however, their only wins are against Georgia Southern (56-45) and Portland State (56-14). Apparently, Adam’s logic is that a close loss on the road to a ranked team means you’re Top 25 worthy, however, smashing a ranked team at home (38-9) like BYU did, means nothing. Got it!
He also has Iowa (3-1) at No. 24 and Navy at No. 25. Iowa’s best win is against unranked Minnesota (2-2) on the road, and Navy’s best win (56-44) is against unranked Memphis (3-1) whose best win is against 1-3 Florida State.
He also has Kansas State at No. 23, the same team BYU just spanked 38-9.
Adam, you have some explaining to do.
Henry Greenstein, Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence, KS)
Henry is based in Kansas, so you’d think he would know about BYU’s 38-9 victory over then-No. 13 Kansas State. Nope! Henry has Kansas State at No. 19 — dropping them six spots, with BYU (4-0) nowhere to be found.
To make matters worse, Henry didn’t even give the Big 12 bump to BYU like he did for the other Big 12 conference members: Utah (No. 8), Oklahoma State (No. 14), Kansas State (No. 19) and Iowa State (No. 20). Does Henry even know that BYU is part of the Big 12 and isn’t Independent?
Honestly, I’m not sure he does. Henry, you have some explaining to do.
Mason Young, Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK)
Like Henry, Mason lives in Big 12 country (Oklahoma) and he has no problem giving Big 12 teams a bump: Utah (No. 9), Oklahoma State (No. 14), and Kansas State (No. 16). Yet, Mason still doesn’t rank BYU — one of the remaining undefeated Big 12 teams — in the Top 25.
Can somebody please tell Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to send out some Big 12 maps to reporters in the Midwest?
John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, KY)
John has Louisville at No. 18. The Cardinals are 3-0 with wins over Georgia Tech, Austin Peay, and Jacksonville State. Georgia Tech is unranked and their win over Florida State doesn’t look very good anymore as FSU is unranked and 1-3 on the year.
John also lists Boise State (No. 22), Boston College (No. 24), and James Madison (No. 25). Boston College’s best win is against an unranked Michigan State team (3-1) that hasn’t played anyone (FAU, Prairie View). James Madison’s best win was against unranked North Carolina in which it won 70-50.
John, you have some explaining to do.
Adam Cole, Opelika-Auburn News (Auburn, AL)
Like the others so far, Adam has the usual suspects in Louisville No. 19 as well as Boston College (No. 25).
What is most notable is that he has UNLV (3-0) at No. 24. The Rebels have wins over Utah Tech, and Big 12 bottom dwellers in Houston (1-3) and Kansas (1-3). How is that better than 4-0 BYU which has a blowout win over a ranked team, in addition to a solid win over SMU on the road?
Lastly, Adam still has Kansas State at No. 17, despite the loss to BYU in which they were touchdown favorites. Adam, did you fill out your ballot in the first quarter of the BYU-KSU game? That’s the only logical explanation.
Adam, you have some explaining to do.
Emily Leiker, Syracuse.com (Syracuse, NY)
Emily has Oklahoma at No. 21 despite the Sooners looking like hot garbage this year. The Sooners’ best win is beating Houston at home (16-12). Oklahoma then followed it up with a 25-15 loss to Tennessee last Saturday in a game that wasn’t even that close. Oklahoma had just 222 yards of total offense and could barely move the ball.
Emily has Kansas State (3-1) at No. 20, yet doesn’t even rank BYU (4-0) which beat the Wildcats by 29. She also has UNLV at No. 23 and as explained above, the Rebels have no reason to be in the Top 25. She also has Boise State at No. 24.
Emily, you have some explaining to do.
Randy Johnson, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
Randy ranks Notre Dame at No. 14 despite the Irish losing at home already to Northern Illinois — a team they were favored to beat by 28 points. He also has the usual suspects such as Louisville (No. 15), Boise State (No. 20), Boston College (No. 23)
He has Indiana (4-0) at No. 22, despite the Hoosiers not beating any quality opponents. Their best win is over an unranked UCLA team that is 1-2.
Lastly, he has Nebraska (3-1) at No. 25, yet its best win is over an unranked Colorado (3-1) team that needed a Hail Mary just to beat Baylor (2-2) at home.
Randy, your East Coast bias is showing.
Andy Yamashita, The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA)
Where do I start? Andy is a West Coast guy (Seattle), so I appreciate some West Coast bias to offset the East Coast bias that is always present in the AP Poll. However, not ranking BYU is unexplainable to me.
He has Notre Dame (No. 15), Oklahoma (No. 17), Louisville (No. 18), Kansas State (No. 19 and UNLV (No. 20). I’ve already explained my reasoning about those teams.
He also has Texas A&M (3-1) at No. 21 despite losing to Notre Dame — which lost to Northern Illinois –and their best win is over an unranked and awful Florida team (2-2) whose best win is over Mississippi State (1-3) — which appears to be the worst SEC team this year.
Andy, we appreciate some West Coast bias, but I hope somebody shows you a map of where Provo, Utah is.
Ian Kress, WLNS-TV (Lansing, MI)
Ian has teams with one loss ranked from No. 17-23. Apparently, having a loss is better than being undefeated — especially when it comes to beating ranked opponents.
Ian, you have some explaining to do.
