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BYU Football Cracks Into AP Top 25 Poll After Memorable Rivalry Win

Sep 12, 2021, 12:55 PM

BYU Football - Kalani Sitake...

PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 11: Head coach Kalani Sitake of the BYU Cougars, center, is escorted off the field after their upset win over the Utah Utes at LaVell Edwards Stadium on September 11, 2021 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

PROVO, Utah – For the second year in a row, BYU football enters the AP Top 25 poll early in the season.

After defeating rival formerly ranked Utah 26-17 on Saturday night, BYU now moves into the Top 25.

The pollsters voted BYU from the receiving votes category to No. 23 in the latest AP poll. Last season, BYU opened up the 2020 season with a 10-0 start and finished last year with a No. 11 ranking. That was with a schedule that didn’t feature any Power 5 opponents.

This season, BYU is one of the few teams in college football that has opened the year with two Power 5 opponents and remains undefeated.

BYU has another Power 5 opponent this Saturday, and a fellow Top 25 team when they host the Arizona State Sun Devils. Arizona State checks in at No. 19 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. ASU defeated UNLV over the weekend, they’ll be making their first trip to Provo since 1998.

BYU Football Enters AP Top 25 Week 3 Poll

1. Alabama (2-0)

2. Georgia (2-0)

3. Oklahoma (2-0)

4. Oregon (2-0)

5. Iowa (2-0)

6. Clemson (1-1)

7. Texas A&M (2-0)

8. Cincinnati (2-0)

9. Ohio State (1-1)

10. Penn State (2-0)

11. Florida (2-0)

12. Notre Dame (2-0)

13. UCLA (2-0)

14. Iowa State (1-1)

15. Virginia Tech (2-0)

16. Coastal Carolina (2-0)

17. Ole Miss (2-0)

18. Wisconsin (1-1)

19. Arizona State (2-0)

20. Arkansas (2-0)

21. North Carolina (1-1)

22. Auburn (2-0)

23. BYU (2-0)

24. Miami (FL) (1-1)

25. Michigan (2-0)

Others Receiving votes: UCF 111, TCU 103, Liberty 52, Michigan State 44, USC 39, Indiana 34, LSU 31, Kansas State 30, Nevada 28, Oklahoma State 27, Texas 23, Maryland 14, Pittsburgh 13, Kentucky 13, Stanford 10, Utah 9, Boston College 8, Arizona 6, Texas Tech 2, Fresno State 2, Toledo 2, Army 1.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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BYU Football Cracks Into AP Top 25 Poll After Memorable Rivalry Win