I woke up to the brand-new edition of the AP Top 25 rankings. Scanning, scanning, scanning, I checked and double-checked (just like Santa), and wouldn't you know it, BYU football remains on the outside looking in. The 26th-highest vote receiver -- right where they sat in the preseason poll.
BREAKING: College Football AP Poll🚨https://t.co/xSYsFdMXe5 pic.twitter.com/E7loVIHDJN
— On3 (@On3sports) September 2, 2025
Yet somehow, after handling a vastly overmatched Portland State as they should have (by a whopping 69-point disparity), BYU has been bounced for a second straight week. Kansas State and Boise State have been jostled from the tower thanks to some underwhelming on-field production, so one's logical inclination is to take the teams that performed well, and shift them accordingly.
But the top 25 has never been about logic, and it's a completely arbitrary digit on the scorebug for the first few weeks of the season. Yet something about this listing gets the nation up in arms over who is voting for whom, which teams deserve more public appreciation, and which teams are riding too high on their brand value alone.
BYU fans are accustomed to slights from the national media -- Brett McMurphy proved they've been the most historically underrated program when it comes to national rankings -- but what really gets the blood pumping is seeing one of the names that leapfrogged their beloved Cougars.
The University of Utah.
Jumping from 27th to 25th after an admittedly impressive week one road win over UCLA, the Utes earned their spot among the AP top 25. The Cougars return with a counterattack in this intrastate thumb war by retaining the 25th position in the footnote that is the Coaches Poll. Score?
But that still leaves one vacancy, right? Who cut the line? That would be Florida State, who launched into the 14th slot after having their way with the bungling Crimson Tide in the opening week. Alabama, thanks to their top-10 origin, hung in and have dug their heels in at 21.
It's a frustrating result for BYU, as poll inertia can be a pivotal phenomenon as the season continues. Like it or not, many voters base their submissions on previous polls, rather than exclusively checking each team's body of work.
BYU still commands their own destiny, fortunately, and will breach the top 25 so long as they continue to win. They have one of the easiest non-conference slates in the Power Four, so that may be sooner than later. Hold tight.