BYU re-enters the AP Top 25 after a 2-0 week

After dropping out of last week's AP Poll, the BYU Cougars leaped back into this week's Top 25.

The Cougars season has been unpredictable at times, as they're winning many games they were counted out of, and losing many games that seemed like scheduled Ws. This past week, though, BYU finally broke through and had an undefeated week of Big 12 competition. With a huge win against Kansas in the historic Allen Fieldhouse and a comeback-turned-blowout against TCU, voters have like what they've seen and placed BYU back among the best of college hoops.

Many metric-based ranking systems like NET and KenPom (which the March Madness selection committee values over human-based rankings like the AP and Coaches Polls) have had BYU ranked for most of the season--their production metrics have made robots and geeks alike fall in love with the scrappy squad from Provo, Utah. Seeing BYU drop out of the Top 25 was entirely based on recency bias and emotional decision-making, and that becomes apparent when you factor together BYU's rankings across several systems.

BYU's rankings as of 3/4/2024:

AP Poll: 20th (Last week: unranked)
Coaches Poll: 23rd (Last week: unranked)
NET: 12th
KenPom: 16th

The discrepancy is wide, and although it can be addicting to see AP voters submit completely awful ballots week after week, I'm glad to see that objective data is being used to determine the value of these teams, rather than using subjective polls to determine the fate and status of these teams. Even after beating Kansas and TCU in the same week, some voters still let personal biases get in the way of doing what's best for the sport. NET and KenPom are among the rankings that are working to give credit where it belongs, and are improving a previously flawed ranking system.

Thank goodness sanity has prevailed, and BYU's name is back among the best in the sport. On to the next week!

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