PROVO — A day after receiving the disappointing news that its scheduled game at Army this Saturday has been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the BYU football team got a little bit of good news on Sunday.
The Cougars are back in the national rankings, landing at No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 22 in the USA Today/Amway Coaches’ Poll.
Only the teams scheduled to play this fall are eligible to be ranked.
The Cougars are a spot ahead of No. 22 Army in the AP Top 25 and a spot behind No. 20 Virginia Tech. In the coaches’ poll, BYU is just behind No. 21 Louisiana and just ahead of No. 23 Appalachian State. Army is No. 25 in that poll.
Having routed Navy 55-3 on Sept. 7, and with the game against undefeated Army (2-0) off the board, BYU (1-0) is not scheduled to play again until Sept. 26 at home against Troy.
BYU officials announced Tuesday that only 6,000 fans will be admitted into the Troy game. That number could increase to 24,000 in subsequent games.
Meanwhile, Army athletic director Mike Buddie tweeted on Sunday that the Black Knights are looking for a “like-minded, disciplined team for a date next Saturday,” a sign that they likely won’t try to reschedule the game with BYU if they find an opponent willing to step in on short notice.