Both the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars are ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 preseason football poll, which was released Monday.
The Utes are No. 7, while the Cougars snuck in at No. 25. This comes after Utah was No. 8 in the coaches poll released last week and BYU was unranked but received votes.
The Utah State Aggies received two votes in Monday’s poll after also receiving votes in the coaches poll.
This marks the fourth-straight year Utah has been ranked in the AP preseason top 25, seven spots higher than its previous high at the beginning of a season of No. 14 in 2019.
According to USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz, Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham will receive a $15,000 bonus for Utah being ranked in the poll.
This is BYU’s first preseason appearance since 2009, when the Cougars ended the year 11-2 and No. 12 in the final poll.
Utah is the highest-ranked Pac-12 team, while Oregon is No. 11 and USC is No. 14. No team from Utah State’s Mountain West Conference is ranked.
From the Big 12, BYU’s future conference, Oklahoma is No. 9, Baylor is No. 10 and Oklahoma State is No. 12.
Alabama is ranked No. 1.
Brandon Judd contributed to this story.