BYU’s unbeaten start has the Cougars sitting at No. 8 in the AP Top 25, but Josh Pate isn’t buying the placement.
After watching BYU survive a rainy 17-10 win at TCU, the college football analyst made it clear he thinks the Cougars are getting more credit than they’ve earned so far. He also widened the argument beyond Provo, saying the same skepticism applies to the Big 12 as a whole.
“I’m pretty sure there are more than eight teams better than Brigham Young,” Pate said on Josh Pate's College Football Show.
That came after Pate took a measured tone first. He acknowledged that he once projected BYU to win the Big 12 in his early predictions, later changed course and picked Texas Tech, and even called the Cougars “a legitimate playoff threat” in July.
“I'm not going to plant the flag hardcore here, but Brigham Young's at eight,” Pate said. “This is not predictive. It's not supposed to be a power rating.”
The numbers from Saturday’s game gave him plenty to work with. BYU produced just 216 total yards in the win, and TCU finished with only 62 passing yards and a little over 200 yards of offense overall. The Horned Frogs dropped to 2-3 with the loss.
“Utah Tech, Arizona, Colorado State, TCU. Those are your wins,” Pate said.
“They beat TCU by seven yesterday. That's not a good TCU team.
They had 62 passing yards. They had just over 200 yards total offense, but they're undefeated and a lot was expected of them in the preseason.”
BYU opened the year with a 63-7 win over Utah Tech, then beat Arizona 28-17 and went on to win 41-23 at Colorado State. The Cougars moved up two spots in Sunday’s poll after the TCU victory.
The performance in Fort Worth came with some complications. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier completed 11 of 24 passes in the rain, and running back LJ Martin, the 2025 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, left with what appeared to be an ankle injury after two carries. Even so, Bachmeier ran for both BYU touchdowns, including a 21-yard clincher with 2:06 left.
Pate pointed to the way unbeaten teams are treated in the AP poll, especially when they enter the season with expectations attached.
“So that's just the way an AP voter's mind works,” Pate said. “They're not going to start bumping you if they thought something of you until you lose games.
You can disagree with that logic. I do too.”
He also said the Big 12 is tough to evaluate because it has not produced enough cross-conference results.
“The Big 12 feels to me like an island,” Pate said. “It's just offshore. You can see it, but you don't really know what's on the island.”
There has been at least one major statement from the league. On Sept.
12, Oklahoma State knocked off then-No. 6 Oregon 39-31 in Stillwater, ending a 21-game losing streak against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker threw for 317 yards and added 109 more on the ground.
Pate said that result leaves open two possibilities: the conference may be stronger than people realize, or the whole group may be getting too much benefit of the doubt in the rankings.
“So it could be that the entire top half of that conference is better than we realize,” Pate said.
“But in a wide-open setting like the AP poll, where you're compared to the rest of the country, all of them may be overrated,” he added. “Don't know. Quite literally don't know.”
Five Big 12 teams are ranked: BYU at No. 8, Texas Tech at No. 11 after a 29-7 win at Colorado, Utah at No.
12, Oklahoma State at No. 18 and Houston at No. 22.
Pate highlighted Oklahoma State and Houston as teams that could end up being better than their spots suggest.
“It may very well be that those teams at 18 and 22 end up being one or two of the best teams in the league,” Pate said. “I'd especially say that about Oklahoma State. I don't think really many people want to play them right now.”
The 5-0 Red Raiders visit the 3-1 Cowboys on Nov. 14.
BYU’s next stretch will bring more attention. The Cougars host Iowa State on Friday at 10:15 p.m.
ET, then welcome No. 3 Notre Dame to Provo, Utah, on Oct.
- Pate contrasted that upcoming run with the path facing No.
6 Alabama.
“I know Bama's got the tests coming, so I don't really worry about it all that much,” Pate said. “I don't know where all the tests are for Brigham Young outside of when Notre Dame goes out there. And if that's a definitive 30-10 kind of final, do they plummet or do they just fall six spots or something like that?”
Martin’s injury status adds another layer of uncertainty for BYU heading into those home games. Linebacker Isaiah Glasker also exited the TCU game in the first half, and coach Kalani Sitake did not offer a diagnosis for either player afterward.
“So it wasn't like those guys were on crutches or anything like that,” Sitake said.
Martin entered the game averaging 109.3 rushing yards per contest.
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