BYU makes a leap as Utah inches up in latest AP Top 25 rankings

SALT LAKE CITY — The world watched as BYU welcomed Notre Dame on campus, and then saw as the Cougars delivered a knockout blow in a highly-touted top-10 matchup.

The Cougars emerged victorious and made a statement with the win.

Across state lines, Utah escaped defeat in Boulder against Colorado in an up-and-down night for the Utes against their former quarterback.

Regardless of performance, the two teams from the state of Utah remain just two of the final six teams around the country with an undefeated record, and both maintain a high ranking inside the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings.

Here’s a look at where the teams landed.

BYU Cougars

Missing its star running back due to injury, BYU leaned on sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier to get that job done against Notre Dame. And Bachmeier more than delivered in one of his best performances on the big stage.

The Cougars struck first to show the Fighting Irish they’d be in for a battle, and then held firm in the face of adversity as Notre Dame rallied back. And it all amounted to a statement win over Notre Dame.

The win gave the Cougars a much-needed resume boost to prop up its credentials as a viable playoff worthy team, while also propelling BYU up the latest AP Top 25 rankings that were released Sunday afternoon.

BYU moved up six spots to No. 2 this week, clearly establishing themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12.

The road is not finished for BYU, but it’s a strong statement to the college football world that the Cougars have what it takes to win tough games.

Utah Utes

In just the team’s second road game of the season, Utah faced a down Colorado team with a familiar face at quarterback. The Buffaloes had two weeks to prepare for the matchup, which showed against a Utah team that couldn’t finish drives.

Utah weathered a second-half comeback from Colorado to maintain an unblemished record to the season as one of six teams in the country. Regardless of result, it’s a strong start to Morgan Scalley’s tenure as head coach with the Utes, even though he felt his team probably should have lost the game.

With the win, though, Utah now hold the longest-active winning streak in the FBS with 12 games and a meeting with a ranked Houston on the docket — as well as ESPN College GameDay descending on Salt Lake City a week after making Provo home.

Utah moved up one spots to No. 10 after the win, setting up a tough meeting Saturday against ranked opponents.

Big 12 teams

The Big 12 owns the top 10 of the AP Top 25 rankings, with three teams now inside the top 10 — all three are also undefeated.

BYU maintains the top spot in the conference, but Texas Tech moved up to No. 8 with a blowout win over Arizona State on Saturday. Utah rounds out the top 10 as the three teams look for a playoff bid.

Outside of the previously mentioned teams, Houston moved up six spots to No. 14 after a ranked win over Oklahoma State. The Cougars now travel to Salt Lake City for another ranked matchup.

Oklahoma State, which was originally at No. 18 dropped all the way out of the rankings and is the first team receiving votes in the AP Top 25. Arizona, which was on a bye week, moved into the rankings at No. 25.