If you've already taken a gander at the most recent release of the AP top 25 rankings, you likely released a sigh of relief upon seeing royal blue finally make an appearance.
Tucked away in the corner of the graphic, there sits BYU. Firmly at the bottom of the totem pole, a team that began the year 26th and has floated just outside the gate every week of the young season has finally broken onto the scene. Finally, the score bug will have a tiny number next to the Cougars' name.
BREAKING: College Football AP Poll🚨 https://t.co/zcxbXhWcsk pic.twitter.com/BoOS0dm3SG
— On3 (@On3sports) September 21, 2025
It's been a long time coming, and frankly, it's arriving a tad late for our tastes. The Cougars are undefeated and just snagged their first road win of the season behind a true freshman quarterback. One of the top-scoring defenses in the nation and an offense that's beginning to pick up the slack? Sounds a bit like the number four team on the official list.
But that's not where the discrepancies end -- no, sir, far from it. This week's poll is yet another example of a broken system with no accountability of attachment to reason. Yet despite this, it remains the authority until the College Football Playoff rankings are released in a few more weeks.
So while the AP Poll remains at the forefront, it deserves any criticism it has coming its way. Here are some of the biggest discrepancies from this week's edition.
Biggest problems with the AP Poll Top 25 Rankings
1. Illinois is not top 25. Not by a longshot.
The Fighting Illini went to Bloomington, Indiana, and were blown out of the doors by a gap of 53 points. Completely destroyed in every sense of the word, Illinois went from a top 10 team all season to plummeting into the 20s. Here's the problem: it's still too high.
Their only quality win has been against Duke, a team that was embarrassed by Tulane and has nothing to show for itself to this point in the year. The only reason Illinois remains in the rankings is the fact that they were anchored at a top team by the preseason rankings and hadn't done anything to prove otherwise until this last week.
But you can't lose a football game by 50+ and expect to be ranked the following week.
2. Notre Dame remains.
The Irish just won their first game of the season. They demolished a bad Purdue team and got their first W on the schedule. My condolences to a number of undefeated teams whose brand isn't as potent as Notre Dame.
3. Big 12 disrespect up and down the board.
The Big 12 Conference has been one of the best leagues in the sport. They sit 7-1 against the ACC and have four teams in the top 25. Here's the problem: if you're not undefeated, the Big 12 doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.
For some reason, the Big 12 is seen as some lesser conference. No statistics back it up. In fact, they're nearly equal to the Big 10 Conference thus far, which sits on 6 members of the most recent top 25.
My conference ratings thru Week 4. The SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 are bunching up while the ACC falls further behind. pic.twitter.com/VJdJTWuw3c
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) September 21, 2025
Auburn nearly usurped BYU for the last spot. Notre Dame and Illinois stand in the way of BYU and TCU. Zero Big 12 teams are in the top 10 -- not even Texas Tech, an unbeaten team that just smoked Utah in Rice-Eccles. Not even undefeated Iowa State. It's as simple as this: having B1G or SEC on your chest is inherently more valuable to voters than on-field production.
The AP Poll remains a complete mess.