SALT LAKE CITY ā BYU punched its ticket to the Big 12 championship game over the weekend and kept a shot at a College Football Playoff appearance alive.
As other conferences around the country participated in rivalry weekend, BYU welcomed UCF to Provo in what turned out to be a blowout victory after trailing 14-0. A win wasn’t necessary to secure a championship game appearance, but BYU secured its first 11-win regular season since 2001.
It’s also the second consecutive season with BYU finishing with double-digit wins and the fourth in Kalani Sitake’s tenure at BYU.
The win also helped keep the Cougars near the top of the Associated Press Top 25 rankings for another week, but still outside of the top 10. The Cougars stayed put at No. 11 and are sandwiched between several teams with a 10-2 record.
BYU remains the second-highest ranked team from the Big 12, with Texas Tech moving up to No. 5, largely due to Texas upsetting Texas A&M over the weekend.
Utah dropped a spot to No. 15 despite a win over Kansas to secure its first 10-win regular season since 2019. The Utes defense struggled in the final two games but the team hasn’t lost a game since a 3-point loss to BYU.
The biggest decider there was a three-loss Texas win, which pushed the Longhorns up two spots.
Arizona, which got a rivalry win over Arizona State over the weekend, moved up to No. 22 to give the Big 12 four teams ranked this week. Houston, Iowa State and Arizona State each received votes in the latest ranking.
Ohio State maintained its top spot at No. 1 with 61 first-place votes after a rivalry win over Michigan. The Buckeyes are followed by Indiana, who earned five first-place votes, Georgia, Oregon and Texas Tech.
The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday ahead of conference championship week. The final rankings of the season will be announced Sunday morning.
To see the full rankings check below, or click here.
Ā