BYU basketball baffled as they fall down the AP Poll... for winning?

The college sports ranking system is incredibly flawed, and has been since its inception nearly one million years ago to the day. BYU football has experienced some of the worst bias and misrepresentation in the AP Poll (the very worst, if you believe Brett McMurphy), but now, even with the potential number one pick leading the way, BYU is still struggling to capture national respect.

In the most recent AP Poll, BYU slipped from ninth in the nation to 11th, a two-spot skid after a 2-0 week in Big 12 play.

Just like in football, BYU is the lowest-ranked one-loss team from a power conference. Would it be paranoia to suggest there's something going on beneath the surface that keeps shafting the Cougars?

If you ask me, it's an instilled bias in the minds of most AP voters that repeatedly places BYU athletics on the outside looking in. A program that has historically overperformed based on external expectations, Brigham Young University is still perceived to be the little WAC/MWC school that could. A heartwarming story of overachievement and defying the odds.

I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but BYU sports are officially a threat among the biggest and baddest schools in the nation.

This season, with an NBA-level head coach, the number one recruit in the 2025 class, a first-team All-Conference senior guard, and a five-star point guard, BYU basketball has their sights on the Final Four. This season, that's not an out-of-nowhere expectation; BYU hoops has the talent to compete with anyone in the nation.

Head coach Kevin Young, upon learning where his team was placed in the most recent poll, had the following to say. Per Jay Drew:

"Someone just told me we dropped to 11, which I still don't get. I really don't understand how the polls work. I'm not trying to be funny. We have one loss by two points against the No. 3 team in the country, in their backyard, and we were down two starters."

BYU, having just won against Arizona State at home and against rival Utah on the road, slips beneath Nebraska and Vanderbilt, two unbeaten squads that have been the darlings of the college hoops world.

If your heart tells you that those schools are truly better than the trio of AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders, and Rob Wright, then I can't convince you otherwise, but the Cougars' only blemish on their resume has been a one-possession loss to Dan Hurley's third-ranked UConn Huskies, in a pseudo road environment in Boston, MA.

The Huskers have taken down Michigan State and Illinois, which are two of the more impressive wins any team has to this point in the young season. They should be top 10. The Commodores took down a very good Alabama team at home. They should be top 15. But BYU hoops are three measly points away from being the third-ranked team in the nation.

Instead, BYU dropped the same amount of spots as Michigan this week. The Wolverines slid from 2 to 4 after losing to Wisconsin at home -- the very same Wisconsin team that BYU dismantled earlier the season in a 28-point Delta Center duel.

It's easy to get swept up in the excitement of a pair of scrappy unbeaten programs, but BYU basketball is a team whose only crime was a difficult non-conference schedule.

Time, I expect, will heal all wounds.