BYU moved up a spot to No. 8 in the latest Associated Press and Coaches polls released Sunday after the Cougars’ most impressive victory of the season, a 51-17 blowout of then-No. 21 Boise State.
The one-spot jump was expected, after Georgia lost 44-28 to Florida in a matchup of top 10 teams, and BYU leapfrogged the Bulldogs (now No. 12 in AP and No. 11 in Coaches) in both polls.
It’s the highest ranking for the Cougars in the AP since rising to No. 7 in the 2009 season. BYU is off to its first 8-0 start since 2001, and fourth in school history. The Broncos fell out of the polls with the home loss to the Cougars.
There was plenty of movement in the top 10 after the weekend’s results that saw Notre Dame knock off the previous top-ranked team, Clemson, 47-40, in double overtime.
Alabama (6-0), which was on a bye, moved into the top spot in both polls.
- The Fighting Irish (7-0) jumped to No. 2 in the AP and Coaches polls and picked up first-place votes in both (two in AP, four in Coaches), while the Crimson Tide are the overwhelming first-place vote-getter.
- Ohio State (3-0), after a blowout win over Rutgers, stayed put at No. 3 in the AP and Coaches polls.
- Clemson (7-1) fell to No. 4 in both polls with the loss.
- Florida (4-1), with the win over Georgia, jumped to No. 5 in the Coaches poll, while Texas A&M (5-1), with a blowout victory over South Carolina, is now No. 5 in the AP poll.
- Cincinnati (6-0), the top-ranked Group of Five team, fell a spot to No. 7 in both polls despite beating Houston 38-10.
- Indiana (3-0), with a dominant win over Michigan, is now No. 10 in both polls after starting the year unranked.
The Pac-12 finally kicked off its season, and following a 35-14 victory over Stanford, Oregon jumped two spots in the Coaches poll to No. 12 and one spot to No. 11 in the AP poll.
USC, which scored 14 points in the final three minutes to rally past Arizona State 28-27, stayed put at No. 20 in both polls.
Utah, despite having its opening game against Arizona canceled by COVID-19, received 33 votes in the AP poll (four spots out of the top 25) and 45 votes in the Coaches poll (three spots out of the top 25).