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PROVO —The only ranked team located west of the Rocky Mountains to win in Week 5 surged into the Associated Press top 10 when voters released their ballots Sunday afternoon.
BYU rejoined some of the top teams in the country Sunday, surging to No. 10 in the latest AP Top 25 two days after improving to 5-0 with a 34-20 win over in-state rival Utah State in Logan. The Cougars also came in at No. 10 in the USA Today coaches' poll, rising five spots in a tumultuous week where 12 teams moved at least as many positions.
Additionally, BYU climbed four spots to No. 10 in the NFF-FWAA Super 16 poll. The Cougars checked in at No. 14 last week in the official poll of the National Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America.
Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Penn State and Cincinnati make up the top-five by the AP, up two spots for the Bearcats following their 24-13 road win at Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. Oklahoma, Ohio State, Oregon and Michigan round out the top 10.
Does BYU deserve its lofty top 10 status? That's a topic that will be debated on sports talk radio from Salt Lake City to Provo and beyond. But one year after finishing at No. 11 nationally with an 11-1 overall record, the Cougars haven't let up yet.
BYU has won 16 of its past 17 games. Only the Crimson Tide have won more in the last two years.
Yahoo Sports reporter Pete Thamel called BYU the "'western team with the best shot to reach the College Football Playoff" due to its schedule filled with seven Power Five teams, including three it has already defeated in Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
"It all comes back to Kalani Sitake," offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick told Thamel. "He's like the Ted Lasso of college football coaches. He's so positive all the time. Our players love playing for him and coming in the build every day. Practice is fun and meetings are fun. He's created such a fun environment to play and coach in."
Much of BYU's identity has been developed along the offensive line, Thamel wrote — led by center James Empey, who missed Friday's game at Utah State and was replaced by former Lone Peak standout Connor Pay. The power-run game allowed for Tyler Allgeier to flourish from former walk-on and one-time linebacker move-over to future NFL tailback and one of the top rushers in the nation.
Like most teams, the Cougars got a little help in the polls. That's the nature of a wild college football season, one where nine teams in the AP Top 25 — and four in the top 10 and six in the top 15 — lost in Week 5.
Saturday was just the 24th day in college football history that at least nine top 25 teams lost on the same day.
Of course, some losses are different than others. Formerly No. 12 Ole Miss was pounded by Alabama, No. 8 Arkansas was shut out by No. 2 Georgia, and previously No. 9 Notre Dame's loss came to a Cincinnati team rated two spots ahead of the Irish at the time.
Then there were other shocking results, like Florida's loss to unranked Kentucky, Oregon's stunning overtime defeat to Stanford, and Texas A&M's four-point loss to Mississippi State. Hawai'i scored 17 unanswered points in the islands to take a late 27-24 lead over No. 18 Fresno State and stun the Bulldogs with their second loss of the season.
BYU's win over Utah State was the only Week 5 win by a ranked team west of the Rocky Mountains, after Oregon, UCLA and Fresno State all lost.
Even some of the games where Top 25 teams didn't lose went down to the wire.
No. 6 Oklahoma needed 243 yards and two touchdowns from Spencer Rattler and a fortuitous video review to hold off Kansas State, 37-31. No. 14 Michigan needed 18 in the fourth quarter to pull away from Wisconsin, 38-17.
So the fact that BYU jumped out to a 17-3 lead over an in-state rival and got a career-high 218 yards and three touchdowns from Allgeier before holding on with third-string freshman quarterback Jacob Conover on a night where the Cougars' defense held the Aggies to 22 net rushing yards?
That was just par for the course, even for a top 25 team.
Do the Cougars have a need for improvement? Of course they do, just like every other team in the country. Even Alabama and Georgia — arguably the two most complete and dominant teams in the country — will preach improvement and accountability just five weeks into the season.
But like those two SEC powers, BYU is also undefeated. And the Cougars are one of just four teams nationally — Alabama, Georgia and Michigan are the other three — that haven't trailed all year.
The Cougars host regional rival Boise State on network television Saturday afternoon. The Broncos (2-3, 1-1 Mountain West) are coming off a 41-31 home loss to projected first-round pick Carson Strong and Nevada.
BYU will welcome the Broncos to LaVell Edwards Stadium wearing all-navy blue uniforms, including the first navy helmet since 2004, the BYU equipment staff announced Saturday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MT on ABC.
