BYU maintains national rankings following bye

PROVO, Utah — BYU maintained its No. 14 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 15 placement in the USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll released Sunday following a bye this past weekend. 

The Cougars (8-2) return to action this week, traveling to face Georgia Southern on Saturday in Statesboro, Georgia. 

Baylor, one of BYU's two defeats this season, made the biggest jump in both polls this week with its win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma, moving up seven spots to No. 11 in AP and five places to No. 13 by the coaches. The Sooners, meanwhile, had the largest drop in both rankings, falling eight places to No. 12 in AP and seven spots to No. 11 in the AFCA poll.

While Baylor moved in front of the Cougars in the rankings, Texas A&M dropped behind BYU, falling five spots in both polls to No. 16 following its loss to Ole Miss. The 12th-ranked Rebels (8-2) entered the top 10 this week with the win, improving two places in both rankings. 

Georgia (10-0) remains the consensus No. 1 team according to both the coaches and AP voters, gathering all 62 first-place votes in both polls. Alabama (9-1) replaced Cincinnati (10-0) as the No. 2 team in AP while maintaining the runner-up ranking from the coaches. The coaches kept the Bearcats at No. 3 while AP slid them just behind the Crimson Tide to the third spot as well this week. 

With Oklahoma's loss, Oregon (9-1) moved up one place to No. 4 in AP while Ohio State (9-1) made the same one-spot move to be ranked No. 4 by the coaches. Teams rated five through nine all made a one-rank advancement filling the void created by the large drop by the Sooners. AP ranked Ohio State No. 5, followed by Notre Dame (9-1), Michigan State (9-1), Michigan (9-1) and Oklahoma State (9-1), while the AFCA poll placed Oregon at No. 5 and agreed on Notre Dame at No. 6 and Oklahoma State at No. 9 while flip-flopping Michigan and Michigan State at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively. 

Following Ole Miss at No. 10, Baylor (8-2), Oklahoma (9-1) and Wake Forest (9-1) are just ahead of BYU in the AP rankings while Iowa joins those same teams in varying order in front of BYU according to the coaches. The Hawkeyes are No. 14 in the AFCA but rated No. 18 by AP.   

BYU, who was also ranked No. 14 in the latest College Football Rankings, will learn on Tuesday where the CFP selection committee places the Cougars in their newest rankings following this past weekend's college football results.

BYU has been ranked in one of the major national polls during nine of the last 10 weeks this year since first entering the national rankings in the second poll of the regular season following its win over Utah, who is ranked No. 24 (AP) and No. 25 (AFCA), respectively, this week at 7-3 on the year. 

At 8-2, BYU has a 5-1 record against Power 5 opponents this year with USC of the Pac-12 still on the schedule. To date, Cougars boast P5 wins over nationally ranked Utah and Arizona State as well as Virginia, Washington State and Arizona.