Tag: BYU

No. 11 BYU controls own postseason destiny entering UCF matchup

Posted on | by Field Level Media

No. 11 BYU controls its own destiny for a spot in the Big 12 championship game, but UCF is ready to play spoiler with its own postseason berth on the line as the two teams clash Saturday afternoon in Provo, Utah.

It’s simple for the Cougars (10-1, 7-1 Big 12): win and in.

For the second straight week, BYU is listed as the first team out of the College Football Playoff, so the conference championship — which would be BYU’s first as a member of the Big 12 — is key for the Cougars to keep their CFP hopes alive.

The Cougars can also punch their ticket to the title game before they even kick off if Arizona State loses to Arizona. BYU can also get in with a loss through a combination of wins by Utah and Arizona State, as well as a loss by Texas Tech.

But the Cougars and coach Kalani Sitake are focused on handling the Knights (5-6, 2-6) and doing the dirty work themselves, especially on senior night.

“I look at all these (seniors) and it’s awesome. I’m so proud of what they’ve been able to build here and the culture that’s thriving with them,” Sitake said on Monday. “They’ve had a lot of wins and they’ve ushered us into the Big 12 and had some success now the last couple years. We just have to finish it strong for them.”

BYU is coming off a 26-14 win over Cincinnati in which Big 12 leading rusher LJ Martin set a career high with 222 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

Martin has 1,134 rushing yards this season on nearly six yards a carry to go along with eight touchdowns.

Bear Bachmeier’s 127 passing yards were his fewest since his first game, but he still recorded a rushing touchdown, his seventh in his last seven games. His freshman campaign has been solid, with 2,304 yards passing, 525 yards rushing and 24 total touchdowns.

The defense for the Cougars really showed out against the Bearcats, holding them to season-lows in points and rushing yards. They forced a fumble in the red zone and took advantage of three missed field goals.

BYU will look to continue feasting on a UCF offense that has struggled to move the ball. The Knights rank in the bottom half of the Big 12 in yards per game (386.3, 11th) and points per game (24.6, 13th).

UCF showed some grit last weekend, overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit to secure a 17-14 victory over Oklahoma State. It was the Knights’ first win in over a month and kept their slim hopes for bowl eligibility alive.

They did so thanks to Tayven Jackson and Dylan Wade, who connected four times for 145 yards, two touchdowns and a 50-yard throw-and-catch that set up the eventual game-winning field goal.

Jackson, who’s been shaky as the starter, produced one of his best starts of the season. He bounced back after throwing two first-half interceptions by completing 16 of 25 passes for 271 yards and the two touchdowns.

It’ll be a physical contest for coach Scott Frost’s bunch, who will try to claim the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2023.

“It’s a good team,” said Frost of BYU. “They’re probably the biggest team we’ve played up front and their linebackers are big. They just have a lot of grown men on the team because of their age and body types. That’s what they’re recruiting for. We’ve got to be ready for a physical game.”

BYU beat UCF 37-24 last season and is 3-1 all-time against the Knights.

–Field Level Media

LJ Martin (222 yards), No. 11 BYU run past Cincinnati

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LJ Martin ran for a career-high 222 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries and No. 11 Brigham Young shut down the high-powered Cincinnati offense to post a 26-14 road win on Saturday night.

Martin also had 44 receiving yards for 266 all-purpose yards. The junior now has 1,134 rushing yards to go with eight touchdowns on the season. Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier completed 15 of 25 passes for 127 yards and rushed for a score as BYU (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive.

The Bearcats (7-4, 5-3), who were averaging 34.4 points per game and 194 yards on the ground per contest, was held to just 87 rushing total yards, while the Cougars played keep-away, holding a 17-minute advantage in time of possession. BYU totaled 392 yards, 265 on the ground.

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby was 25-of-38 passing for 300 yards and two touchdowns as the Bearcats missed out on several chances to make it close. They missed three field-goal attempts, lost a fumble inside the 20 and were stopped near the goal line early in the game.

BYU struck first on Bachmeier’s 6-yard rush up the middle on third-and-goal with just under five minutes left in the first quarter, capping off a 10-play, 50-yard drive.

Cincinnati had a golden opportunity to tie the game when it had first-and-10 at the BYU 12. On fourth-and-1 from the BYU 3, Cincinnati’s leading rusher Tawee Walker was stuffed for no gain, and the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs. Walker, who was averaging 6 yards per carry this season, was held to 9 yards on five carries.

After Cincinnati made it 20-14 on Sorby’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Caldwell with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter, Martin and the BYU offense ran out the clock and he added a 33-yard TD run with 56 seconds left in regulation to seal the win.

It wasa very tough game for the normally reliable Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak, who was 12 of 13 on field-goal attempts coming into the game. The left-footed kicker missed tries of 42 yards wide left on the drive immediately following the BYU stop in the red zone and 40 yards wide right as time expired in the first half. He also missed a 48-yarder in the third quarter.

BYU took the lead for good with just under two minutes left in the first half when Will Ferrin converted from 31 yards for a 10-7 lead.

Tanner Wall intercepted Sorsby at the BYU 34 and the Cougars took their first possession of the second half and scored when Martin ran it in from 1 yard for a 17-7 lead. Ferrin’s 32-yard field goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter pushed the advantage to 20-7.

–Field Level Media

No. 11 BYU visits Cincinnati with Big 12 title, CFP hopes on the line

Posted on | by Field Level Media

No. 11 BYU looks to continue its rise up the polls and to secure berths in both the Big 12 title game and the College Football Playoff when it visits slumping Cincinnati on Saturday night.

The Cougars (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) can clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game in Dallas on Dec. 6 with a win, a Colorado win over Arizona State and either a Utah win over Kansas State or a TCU win over Houston.

Cincinnati (7-3, 5-2) heads into Saturday night on a two-game losing streak after having hopes for both a Big 12 championship game appearance and a run at the CFP. After suffering a 45-14 loss at No. 12 Utah on Nov. 1, the Bearcats were upset at home last week, 30-24, by Arizona, which knocked them out of the Top 25 rankings.

BYU sits a half-game back in the Big 12 standings behind Texas Tech and one game above Cincinnati, Houston, Arizona State and Utah, who all own 5-2 conference records. At No. 11 in the CFP rankings, the Cougars would be on the brink of qualifying for the 12-team tournament.

The Cougars rebounded last week from their first loss at Texas Tech by blowing out TCU at home, 44-13, to improve their postseason chances.

Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier passed for 296 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a 17-yard score. It was his 10th on the ground this season, tying him with Steve Young (1982), Taysom Hill (2013) and Zach Wilson (2020) for the school record for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single season.

Bachmeier has passed for 2,177 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. His 479 rushing yards are third among Big 12 quarterbacks, and his 10 rushing touchdowns are tied for second among all players in the conference.

“I liked the way they bounced back after last week,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I felt a different sense of urgency from them all week long. I am glad that it all worked out. I think it was just a matter of us putting it all together in all three phases.

“I thought it worked out nicely, and it felt good, the way I have been asking us to play this whole time. It is my job to get us to play this way every game, but I am glad it showed up now, especially in November, where we can try to build some momentum off it.”

The BYU defense leads the Big 12 with 14 interceptions and is tied for fourth in the conference with 25 sacks.

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby aims to get back on track after two poor performances in the team’s two most-recent losses. Sorsby has completed only 26 of 61 passes, with two touchdowns and three interceptions over the last two games. He started the season with 20 TD passes and just one interception in the first eight games.

The No. 11 Cougars are the highest-ranked team to visit Nippert Stadium since No. 6 Houston in 2016.

Bearcats head coach Scott Satterfield will be looking to his veteran leadership on senior night as Cincinnati aims to regroup late-season momentum.

“The message to the guys is we’re facing some adversity now,” Satterfield said. “It’s easy to lead when things are going good. When you’re facing some adversity, how are we going to lead now? I’ve challenged our guys with that. We have great leadership, so I would expect those guys to come in and figure out what we need to get better at.”

–Field Level Media

Bear Bachmeier, No. 12 BYU roll past TCU

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Bear Bachmeier passed for 296 yards and one touchdown and added a score on the ground to help No. 12 BYU cruise to a 44-13 victory over TCU on Saturday night in Big 12 play at Provo, Utah.

LJ Martin rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and Parker Kingston added a scoring run for the Cougars (9-1, 6-1 Big 12), who impressively rebounded from last week’s 29-7 loss to then-No. 8 Texas Tech.

Carsen Ryan caught a touchdown pass and Tanner Wall returned an interception for a score for BYU. Bachmeier completed 23 of 33 passes and added 59 rushing yards, Kingston caught five passes for 80 yards and Faletau Satuala also had an interception for the Cougars.

Josh Hoover completed 10 of 23 passes for 183 yards and two interceptions for the Horned Frogs (6-4, 3-4), who lost their second straight game. Jon Denman rushed for a touchdown and Eric McAlister had four receptions for 107 yards.

The Cougars outgained TCU 447-298. BYU didn’t punt until the game was more than 50 minutes old.

The Cougars took control of the game with a strong first half.

Will Ferrin opened the scoring with a 52-yard field goal and he booted a 35-yarder as time expired in the first half as BYU led 27-10 at the break.

Kingston scored on an 11-yard run to give the Cougars a 10-0 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first quarter. Bachmeier tacked on a 17-yard scoring run to give BYU a 17-point advantage with 10:16 left in the first half.

TCU got on the board when Nate McCashland kicked a 22-yard field goal with 7:17 left, but BYU answered with Bachmeier’s throw that Ryan turned into a 43-yard scoring play to make it 24-3 with six minutes left.

Denman scored on a 13-yard run to pull TCU within 14 with 1:14 left in the half.

In the third quarter, McCashland kicked a 33-yard field goal for the Horned Frogs and Ferrin had a 29-yarder as BYU took a 30-13 lead into the fourth quarter.

Martin scored from the 1 to boost the BYU lead to 24 with 13:36 left in the game.

Wall piled on with a 68-yard interception return as Hoover’s throw was high and caromed off the hand of McAlister. The ball went directly into the grasp of Wall, who displayed his running skills while scoring. Wall began his BYU career in 2021 as a receiver.

–Field Level Media

No. 12 BYU, eager to shake off first loss, takes aim at TCU

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BYU’s unblemished record has vanished, but a beatdown only counts as one loss.

The No. 12 Cougars will attempt to bounce back from a 22-point setback when they host TCU on Saturday night in Big 12 play at Provo, Utah.

BYU (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) didn’t look like one of the nation’s better teams last weekend in a 29-7 loss to then-No. 8 Texas Tech during a conference showdown at Lubbock, Texas. The Cougars were held to a season-low 255 yards and committed three turnovers.

“I hate losing,” Cougars tight end Carsen Ryan said Tuesday. “We had an opportunity to do something special this year and go 12-0, and we lost that chance. … Our destiny’s still in our hands. We’ve just got to go out and perform and bounce back as an offense, especially.”

The loss means the Cougars likely need to win each of their final three regular-season games — and probably win impressively — to land a spot in the College Football Playoff. BYU missed out last season when it was 10-2 on the selection day before finishing with victory in the Alamo Bowl.

“We don’t care about the eye test,” Cougars receiver Chase Roberts said. “We’ve just got to take care of the next three games. That’s what we have got to do when you have critics out there that don’t respect BYU.”

The Cougars are 1-1 against ranked teams this season, having beaten then-No. 23 Utah at home on Oct. 18. Next week, BYU visits No. 25 Cincinnati before hosting UCF to finish the regular season. The Bearcats also are 5-1 in Big 12 play, while Texas Tech leads the league at 6-1.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake isn’t caught up in scenarios. He wants to let things play out on the field.

“We’ll circle the wagons, get back to work and figure this thing out,” Sitake said. “That’s the remedy. We’ve got to get back to work and figure this thing out.”

The Cougars have lost five straight games — four by 25 or more points — against TCU, most recently falling 44-11 in 2023 at Fort Worth, Texas. BYU last beat the Horned Frogs in 2007 when both programs were in the Mountain West.

TCU coach Sonny Dykes sees a stout BYU squad that will be a stern test for his team.

“They’re a big, physical team. It’s a typical BYU team,” Dykes said Tuesday. “They’re always built up front. That’s always been their history.”

TCU (6-3, 3-3) is in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 after falling 20-17 to visiting Iowa State last weekend.

Horned Frogs star quarterback Josh Hoover has thrown just eight interceptions, but two were against the Cyclones. He also isn’t happy that the offense scored just three first-half points and has failed to score a touchdown in the opening quarter in four of its six Big 12 games.

“That’s something we’re focused on this week, starting fast and being completely ready and tuned up from the jump, not wasting drives,” said Hoover, who has passed for 2,690 yards and 23 touchdowns this year. “It’s a different time in college. We’ll have nine possessions on Saturday, and you can’t waste any of those.”

Bud Clark had two interceptions against Iowa State to move into a tie for fourth place in TCU history with 15 picks. He is tied with fellow safety Jamel Johnson for this season’s team lead with four.

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier has been intercepted just four times. He has thrown for 1,881 yards and 12 touchdowns while adding nine scores on the ground.

–Field Level Media

No. 8 Texas Tech sends No. 7 BYU to first loss in Big 12 clash

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Cameron Dickey had 23 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown, and No. 8 Texas Tech pulled away for a 29-7 win over No. 7 BYU in a Big 12 Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas.

It was the first loss of the season for BYU.

Behren Morton completed 17 of 32 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown for Texas Tech (9-1, 6-1). Caleb Douglas had a touchdown reception for the Red Raiders.

Bear Bachmeier completed 23 of 38 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown and one interception for BYU (8-1, 5-1). Chase Roberts had six catches for 61 yards and a score.

Texas Tech outgained BYU 368-255, including a 149-67 advantage on the ground. The clash between Top 10 teams had a decidedly Red Raiders flair.

Texas Tech opened the scoring with 10:09 remaining in the first quarter when Stone Harrington made a 47-yard field goal.

The Red Raiders made it 10-0 in the final minute of the first quarter. Morton hit Douglas for a 9-yard touchdown.

Harrington struck again, this time from 27 yards, to increase Texas Tech’s lead to 13-0 with 8:11 to play in the second quarter.

A physical contest marked by battles in the trenches continued in the third quarter as neither team found the end zone.

Texas Tech settled for a pair of field goals to increase its lead to 19-0 heading into the fourth quarter. Harrington made a 39-yard kick with 7:00 on the clock in the third quarter, followed by a 29-yarder with 3:41 remaining in the frame.

Dickey found the end zone with 10:46 to go. He scored on a 1-yard run to give Texas Tech a 26-0 advantage.

BYU broke the shutout with 7:35 remaining after an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Bachmeier connected with Roberts for a 6-yard touchdown completion.

Harrington finished the scoring with his fifth field goal of the afternoon. He made a 34-yarder with 2:37 remaining to move the score to 29-7.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who starred at Texas Tech, attended the game to cheer on the Red Raiders. The Chiefs have a bye this week.

-Field Level Media

With plenty of fanfare, No. 8 Texas Tech braces for No. 7 BYU

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Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire noticed something different this week as he prepared for his team’s high-stakes game against BYU in Lubbock, Texas.

A group of students were camped out near Texas Tech’s stadium. They were waiting for ESPN’s “College Football GameDay” broadcast to begin and for the gates to open — not in a matter of minutes or hours, but more than five days later.

The excitement is buzzing as No. 8 Texas Tech (8-1, 5-1 Big 12 Conference) prepares to take on No. 7 BYU (8-0, 5-0) on Saturday afternoon. The teams sit side by side in the College Football Playoff rankings, and this weekend’s matchup could go a long way toward determining the Big 12 standings at the end of the year.

McGuire is well aware of the high stakes. He’s more impressed with the fan response.

“It is really cool to walk out of the office last night and see students camping out,” the 54-year-old McGuire said. “Because whenever they’re my age, that’s what they’re going to remember — the experience.

“You have heard me say it, the pageantry of college football and the experience of ‘GameDay’ being on campus and all of that, it’s so cool. We haven’t had this opportunity in a long time.”

BYU will try to spoil the party as it heads south to take on the Red Raiders.

The Cougars remained undefeated last week by earning a 41-27 win over Iowa State on a blustery afternoon. That followed a three-point win over then-No. 23 Utah and an overtime win against Arizona.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake does not want his players to feel overconfident because of the team’s undefeated record.

“I think we did enough to be 8-0 right now, but I still feel like there’s a lot that we can improve at,” Sitake said. “My job is to make sure that we play at our best and can play a full 60 minutes on Saturday.”

BYU will try to slow down Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton, who is coming off a strong performance in a 43-20 road win against Kansas State. Morton completed 21 of 32 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns and has thrown for 15 TDs compared with four interceptions this season.

Cameron Dickey is Texas Tech’s top threat on the ground; he has rushed for 746 yards and 10 touchdowns. Caleb Douglas leads the team with 41 catches for 594 yards and four scores.

BYU will counter with Bear Bachmeier, who has passed for 1,693 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. LJ Martin has rushed for 789 yards and five scores.

Martin left last week’s game against Iowa State because of an unspecified injury, but Sitake indicated he might be able to return this week. He offered a similar hopeful prognosis for linebacker Jack Kelly.

“They’re doing great,” Sitake said. “We’ll see how they progress during practice this week.”

Meanwhile, Texas Tech is focused on winning the battles at the line of scrimmage.

“They’re big humans that take up a lot of space,” McGuire said of BYU. “We’re going to have to do a great job up front on our double teams. You know we’re going to have to win our one-on-ones. I think that’s huge.”

–Field Level Media

Nov 1, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; Virginia Cavaliers linebacker Kam Robinson (5) runs back a California Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele pass for a touchdown during the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Watch for Virginia, Indiana, BYU when first CFP bracket unveiled

Posted on | by Field Level Media

After 11 weeks of play, we finally get the first set of College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night.

When the first 12-team bracket is unveiled, it will include a number of teams who were expected to be firmly in the mix (hello, Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama) while other preseason favorites will be missing in action (goodbye, Penn State, Clemson and LSU).

Also in the CFP conversation will be a few teams that few projected to be there.

Here are three of those overachieving teams that should be in the first College Football Playoff bracket:

VIRGINIA

Losses by Georgia Tech and Miami on Saturday blew the race for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship wide open.

It’s no guarantee Virginia will be the highest-ranked ACC team in the initial CFP rankings, but the Cavaliers are the highest-ranked ACC team in the AP poll at No. 12. That’s two spots ahead of Louisville.

But considering Virginia is the lone unbeaten team in ACC play — the 35-31 Week 2 loss at North Carolina State counts as a nonconference clash — it should probably be the Cavaliers’ spot until (if) they lose a conference game.

Virginia is far and away the most surprising storyline in college football so far this season. The Cavaliers won 11 games in head coach Tony Elliott’s first three seasons. They haven’t made a bowl game since 2019, haven’t ranked among the AP’s top 12 since 2004 and haven’t started a season 8-1 since 1990.

And yet, here they sit at 8-1 (5-0 ACC).

There’s certainly been a bit of luck in Virginia’s last five games, which has included three overtime wins as well as needing a late safety to beat Washington State.

At what point does luck convert to a team simply being clutch? Virginia is very much testing that theory.

INDIANA

Maybe Indiana and coach Curt Cignetti should have been given a bit more benefit of the doubt entering Year 2.

After all, the Hoosiers came out of the parking lot beyond left field last season when they charged out to a 10-0 start after having zero 10-win seasons in the program’s forlorn past as the losingest team in college football history.

That Indiana team, while a remarkably impressive transformation by Cignetti, was not ready for prime time. In two games against big-boy programs (at Ohio State and at Notre Dame in the CFP), the Hoosiers lost both by a combined margin of 65-32.

That probably justified Indiana’s No. 20 preseason ranking to begin this season.

This fall, the second-ranked Hoosiers have shown 2024 was no fluke, jumping out to a 9-0 start after Saturday’s 55-10 win at Maryland. They’re No. 1 in scoring offense (46.4 points per game) and No. 3 in scoring defense (10.8), which leads to the nation’s best points differential (35.7 ppg).

Even more important, they’ve already done what they couldn’t a year ago — delivering a signature win when they went to then-No. 3 Oregon in Week 7 and became the first team to win there since 2022 with a 30-20 conquest.

With only Penn State, Wisconsin and Purdue left — a combined 0-16 in Big Ten play — not finishing the regular season undefeated would be a massive disappointment. A showdown with No. 1 Ohio State looms in the Big Ten championship game, but Indiana will be in the CFP regardless of that result if it’s 12-0.

BYU

For the second straight season, BYU will be firmly in the playoff mix when Tuesday’s initial rankings are released.

Last year’s team started 9-0 before fading with consecutive losses to fall out of the playoff picture. This year’s team was the first squad outside of the preseason AP Top 25 poll back in August.

Now the Cougars are in a remarkably similar place. When last year’s first CFP bracket dropped, BYU was 8-0, ranked ninth by the AP poll and alone atop the Big 12 standings. This time, the Cougars are 8-0, ranked eighth and alone atop the conference standings.

The Cougars are doing this with a true freshman quarterback in Bear Bachmeier (1,693 yards, 11 passing TDs, team-high nine rushing TDs), who arrived over the summer after initially enrolling at Stanford.

BYU ranks outside the top 25 in total offense and total defense, but it keeps finding ways to win.

The path home for the Cougars will be quite challenging. Two of their final four games are against the teams with one Big 12 loss: Texas Tech and Cincinnati.

But after exceeding expectations for the second straight year, can BYU navigate its way to its first playoff berth?

–Curt Weiler, Field Level Media

Oct 25, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) celebrates with fans after the Cougars beat the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

BYU to No. 8, Notre Dame back in top 10 of AP poll

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The top seven teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll remained unchanged Sunday, while BYU, Texas Tech and Notre Dame rounded out the top 10.

Unbeaten BYU moved up three spots to No. 8, one-loss Texas Tech climbed four spots to No. 9 and Notre Dame — which opened the season with back-to-back losses after a No. 6 preseason ranking — climbed two spots to No. 10.

Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and Ole Miss held onto the Nos. 1-7 spots, respectively, after taking care of business in their Week 10 games.

Room opened at the end of the top 10 due to losses by No. 8 Georgia Tech (48-36 to North Carolina State), No. 9 Vanderbilt (34-31 to Texas) and No. 10 Miami (26-20 in overtime to SMU). BYU and Miami had been tied for the No. 10 spot this past week.

BYU went on the road to beat Iowa State 41-27 to improve to 8-0. Its biggest remaining test comes this week when it visits No. 9 Texas Tech, as the Red Raiders looked sharp for the second straight week in rolling past Kansas State 43-20.

Notre Dame opened the season with losses to Miami and Texas A&M by a combined four points. This is the Fighting Irish’s first time back in the top 10 since that slide after they beat Boston College 25-10 Saturday.

Oklahoma, Texas and Utah enjoyed the biggest jumps, leaping up seven spots apiece in this week’s poll. Oklahoma is No. 11 after taking down then-No. 14 Tennessee 33-27 on the road; Texas’ 34-31 win over Vanderbilt was its fourth straight; and Utah took down then-No. 17 Cincinnati 45-14 to rocket up from the 24th ranking.

The only team to drop out of the top 25 was Houston, which was ranked No. 22 before taking its second loss of the season, 45-35 to West Virginia. Idle Washington entered the rankings at No. 24.

The full AP Top 25 poll after Week 10:
1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. Indiana (9-0)
3. Texas A&M (8-0)
4. Alabama (7-1)
5. Georgia (7-1)
6. Oregon (7-1)
7. Ole Miss (8-1)
8. BYU (8-0)
9. Texas Tech (8-1)
10. Notre Dame (6-2)
11. Oklahoma (7-2)
12. Virginia (8-1)
13. Texas (7-2)
14. Louisville (7-1)
15. Vanderbilt (7-2)
16. Georgia Tech (8-1)
17. Utah (7-2)
18. Miami (6-2)
19. Missouri (6-2)
20. Southern California (6-2)
21. Michigan (7-2)
22. Memphis (8-1)
23. Tennessee (6-3)
24. Washington (6-2)
25. Cincinnati (7-2)

–Field Level Media

Iowa State Cyclones' defensive back Ta’Shawn James (19) and linebacker Carson Willich (14) miss tackle BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) as running for a touchdown during the third quarter at Jack Trice Stadium on Oct. 25, 2025, in Ames, Iowa.

Top six in AP Top 25 remain unchanged; BYU enters top 10

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Reflecting a week of college football that wasn’t too chaotic at the top, the top six teams in Sunday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll remained unchanged.

Ohio State stayed at No. 1 followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia and Oregon.

Ole Miss moved up one spot past Georgia Tech to No. 7 after its 34-26 win at Oklahoma, which fell five spots to No. 18.

Vanderbilt also moved up a spot to No. 9 after improving to 7-1 with Saturday’s 17-10 win over Missouri, which fell four spots to No. 19.

BYU, which rallied to beat Iowa State 41-27 to improve to 8-0, moved up one spot into a tie with Miami for 10th.

Cincinnati and Michigan were the biggest risers of the week, each moving up four spots. The Bearcats leapt to No. 17 with a 41-20 win over Baylor while the Wolverines jumped to No. 21 with a 31-20 win at Michigan State.

Four of the bottom eight teams in last week’s poll — South Florida, LSU, Illinois and Arizona State — fell out of the poll after losing Saturday. They were replaced by No. 22 Houston, No. 23 Southern California, No. 24 Utah and No. 25 Memphis.

The full Top 25:
1. Ohio State (7-0)
2. Indiana (8-0)
3. Texas A&M (8-0)
4. Alabama (7-1)
5. Georgia (6-1)
6. Oregon (7-1)
7. Ole Miss (7-1)
8. Georgia Tech (8-0)
9. Vanderbilt (7-1)
10. Miami (6-1)
10. BYU (8-0)
12. Notre Dame (5-2)
13. Texas Tech (7-1)
14. Tennessee (6-2)
15. Virginia (7-1)
16. Louisville (6-1)
17. Cincinnati (7-1)
18. Oklahoma (6-2)
19. Missouri (6-2)
20. Texas (6-2)
21. Michigan (6-2)
22. Houston (7-1)
23. USC (5-2)
24. Utah (6-2)
25. Memphis (7-1)

–Field Level Media