BYU and Utah are no longer crashing college football’s party. They’re sitting at the table.
This week’s national rankings put BYU at No. 11 and Utah at No. 17, a pairing that would have sounded far-fetched not all that long ago. Now it barely registers as a surprise.
BYU is tucked between Alabama and USC. Utah sits ahead of Michigan and Oklahoma.
For two programs that spent so many years fighting for respect, that’s a dramatic shift.
There was a time when neither school was treated like part of the sport’s inner circle. Outside Utah, they were often viewed as outsiders looking in, stuck on the fringes while the blue-blood programs collected the attention and the invitations.
BYU spent years trying to find a conference that would take it. Utah watched the Pac-12 collapse around it before the Big 12 gave the Utes a landing spot, and even that came only after the league itself had been shaken up.
Now both teams are regularly showing up in the rankings, and not just in the back half of the Top 25. They’ve become fixtures in a space where their names once felt like novelties.
The numbers tell the story of just how far that climb has gone. Utah made its first appearance in what was then the Top 20 in Week 6 of the 1947 season, ranking 18th.
A week later, it was gone, and then it took nearly another half-century before it came back. BYU needed even longer to break through, waiting 52 years before its first Top 20 appearance in 1974, when it checked in at No. 20 in Week 13 and No. 17 in Week 14.
Since then, both schools have built real staying power. Utah has been in the weekly Top 25 rankings 196 times, with all but one of those appearances coming since 1994. BYU has appeared 308 times, every one of them since 1974, including 64 over the last five seasons alone.
It wasn’t until 2004 that the two schools showed up in the rankings together. Since then, it has happened 65 times, with all but nine of those instances coming since 2008.
Their shared history goes back to 1882, with a few stops and starts along the way, but even their first final rankings breakthrough took time. BYU did not crack the FINAL Top 25 until 1977, while Utah did not do it until 1994. They have finished in the Final Top 25 together five times: 1994, 2008, 2009, 2021 and 2025.
The rise has also changed the way people talk about the people leading these programs. Kalani Sitake, now a hot commodity after Penn State pursued him last winter, was once under heavy scrutiny himself.
Early in his tenure, he made the mistake of building his first staff almost entirely with former BYU players. It was a feel-good reunion that didn’t last.
He had to clear most of that group out and rebuild, and for a time his job security was very much in question.
BYU’s long stretch as an independent also kept the Cougars on the outside of the national conversation for years. That run lasted 12 seasons and came with plenty of complications.
Utah’s path looked different but ended in the same place. The Utes were a .500 program for 50 years before Ron McBride pushed them forward, Urban Meyer lifted them again during his brief stay, and Kyle Whittingham kept them in that higher tier for two decades, with only a few setbacks along the way. After joining the Pac-12, Utah had two 5-7 seasons, then another 5-7 season after moving into the Big 12.
So yes, it still takes a little getting used to. But BYU and Utah are no longer surprises in the rankings. They’re part of the national conversation now.
In Other News...
BYU Is Taking A Scheduling Risk The Committee Could Notice
BYUs 2026 trip to Colorado State adds another piece to a scheduling pattern that has already become hard to ignore. It will be the third straight season the Cougars are slated to play a road game against a Group of Six opponent, a quirk that sets them apart from the rest of the Power Four crowd and leaves them carrying a little more travel-related baggage than most of their peers.
Since 2021, nine Power Four programs have taken three straight road games against Group of Six teams, but BYU is the only one still waiting to finish that stretch. The Cougars have already started adjusting the shape of future slates, moving a game against Oregon State to a neutral site, and the current long-range picture shows only one other true road date against a Group of Six team, at Northern Illinois in 2030. [Read more 🡒]
BYU's Fast Start Just Created A Week 3 Betting Debate
BYUs unbeaten start has made the first month of the season feel a little more serious than usual, and the Cougars have already given themselves something to build on. After opening with two straight wins, including a 28-17 victory over Arizona, they head into a matchup with Colorado State carrying the kind of early momentum that tends to sharpen every conversation around a program, from the standings to the betting board.
Colorado State arrives with the same 2-0 record, which is why this one has started to draw attention beyond the usual early-season chatter. Bear Bachmeiers play has become part of the conversation as well, adding another layer to a game that looks more evenly matched than the records might suggest. The question now is whether BYUs start is enough to make the Cougars the more trustworthy side, or whether the Rams own unbeaten run will keep this debate alive right up to kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
No. 11 BYU Has A Chance To Silence One Lingering Doubt
BYU heads into its 70th meeting with Colorado State carrying the kind of ranking that can turn September games into statements, and this one comes with a bit of extra texture. The Cougars are set for their first trip to Fort Collins in 16 years, a long gap that gives Saturdays matchup a different feel even before the ball is kicked. At No. 11, BYU has more than just a conference road game on its mind. It has a chance to keep building credibility with a performance that looks every bit like a team trying to stay in the national conversation.
The Cougars have leaned on a defense that leads the nation in interceptions this season, and that ball-hawking edge has helped define the early stretch of their year. Offensively, players like LJ Martin are expected to play major roles as BYU tries to impose its will and avoid the kind of shaky outing that can leave a ranked team explaining itself afterward. Colorado State offers a familiar opponent, but the setting and the stakes make this feel like more than another meeting in a long series. [Read more 🡒]