The AP preseason Top 25 is out, and BYU Football faces five teams that are either ranked or receiving votes. All five are on the road.
BYU Football has a rough road (schedule) ahead of them.
On Monday, the Associated Press released their preseason Top 25 poll, and the Cougars will play three ranked teams on the road in 2018.
Adding to that, they’ll play two other teams that received votes in the poll, both on the road as well.
Those same five teams found themselves ranked or receiving votes in the preseason Coaches Poll that was released a couple of weeks ago, but the teams got a little more love overall from the AP Poll.
The first Cougar opponent showing up in the poll is Wisconsin at No. 4. BYU will travel to Camp Randall Stadium to take on the Badgers on September 15th. Their spot in the AP poll is three places higher than their No. 7 ranking in the Coaches Poll.
Next in the poll is No. 6 Washington, who received the same ranking in the Coaches Poll. BYU heads to Seattle to face the Huskies on September 29th.
Washington wasn’t the only team that BYU faces to receive the same ranking in both polls. Boise State comes in at No. 22 in both, and they’ll host the Cougars on November 3rd.
Two othe PAC-12 opponents, Utah and Arizona, received votes as well. The Utes come in at No. 28, one spot better than their Coaches Poll ranking.
Arizona saw the most movement between the two polls. The AP puts them at No. 31, fifteen spots better than the Coaches Poll.
Those two games bookend BYU’s season, with the season opener at Arizona less than two weeks away, and the regular-season finale at Utah on November 24th.