Following another big week for both teams, the BYU men’s and women’s basketball squads are now in their respective AP Top 25 polls.
The men’s team made a big jump from No. 18 last week to No. 12 this week, while the women went all the way from not receiving any votes last week to being ranked No. 21 this week.
The men beat Texas Southern and rival Utah, and those wins combined with losses by then-No. 12 Houston, No. 14 Illinois and No. 16 St. Bonaventure allowed the Cougars to move up.
The women, meanwhile, beat two ranked opponents at the St. Pete Showcase in Florida last week.
The Cougars topped then-No. 17 Florida State on Thanksgiving, then bested then-No. 22 West Virginia two days later.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are undefeated.
On the men’s side, Gonzaga, the Cougars’ West Coast Conference foe, was ranked No. 1 before losing to No. 5 Duke, which now claims the top spot.
Purdue rose to No. 2, Gonzaga is No. 3, Baylor, a future Big 12 opponent of BYU’s, is No. 4, and UCLA of the Pac-12 rounds out the top five.
Elsewhere among the Cougars’ future Big 12 opponents, Kansas is No. 8 and Iowa State is No. 19.
Texas, which is now in the Big 12 but will be moving to the SEC, is No. 7.
From the Pac-12, besides UCLA, Arizona is No. 11 and USC, Utah’s opponent Wednesday, is No. 20.
On the women’s side, Florida State is No. 25 and West Virginia is the top team receiving votes among the unranked after those BYU victories.
As far as future Big 12 opponents go, Baylor is ranked No. 5 and Iowa State is No. 14.
Texas is No. 15.
BYU is the only team from the WCC to be ranked or receiving votes.
From the Pac-12, Stanford is No. 4, Arizona is No. 7, Oregon is No. 18 and Oregon State is No. 23.
South Carolina is No. 1 and North Carolina State and Connecticut are tied for No. 2.