It's no secret how I've felt about BYU football's standing on the national stage of college football. I've written about this topic a nauseating amount, and I'm sure that next season, I'll find something else to gripe about -- crying on the internet about insignificant details? That's my burden to bear.
But with the recent release of the final AP Poll top 25 rankings of the 2025 season, I'm not sure whether to feel satisfied, sold short, or completely baffled.
The 12-2 Cougars, runners up in the Big 12 Conference, and Pop-Tarts Bowl Champions (that's the people's national championship, for the record), have finished ranked 11th in the final order. That slots them ahead of playoff participants Oklahoma and Tulane (though the Green Wave were only included as a conference champion auto-bid), and fastens this team's legacy in the top 13 of the final rankings for the second-straight season.
Final College Football AP Poll Rankings 2025-26
*Teams in bold finished in top 13 of 2024-25 AP Poll
1. Indiana Hoosiers
2. Miami Hurricanes
3. Ole Miss Rebels
4. Oregon Ducks
5. Ohio State Buckeyes
6. Georgia Bulldogs
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders
8. Texas A&M Aggies
9. Alabama Crimson Tide
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
11. BYU Cougars
12. Texas Longhorns
13. Oklahoma Sooners
And here is the list of teams to finish in the top 13 in back-to-back seasons without reaching the College Football Playoff in either year:
1. BYU Cougars
Call it bad luck, coincidence, happenstance -- absorb this information in any way that you see fit. But in the final stretch of the season, let's not forget that major corporations with a financial stake in the postseason tournament, like ESPN, actively campaigned against the Cougars' consideration for the final bracket.
Last season, the Cougars got a delayed start in the AP Poll after losing their starting quarterback in the offseason. But this year? With Bachmeier, Martin, Kingston, Johnson, Glasker, and so many major contributors returning along with head coach Kalani Sitake, there is no reason to have the Cougars open the year unranked in 2026.
BYU football has been the most underrated team in the nation. The only 1-loss regular season team to be excluded from the field of 12 in the College Football Playoff's short history, and a team whose only losses on the year were at the hands of a Texas Tech team with enough merit to warrant a first-round bye.
In 2026, BYU will be ready to shed that underrated label.