BYU Opens 2026 at No. 14 — Its Highest Preseason Ranking in 41 Years

BYU will start the 2026 college football season ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 — the Cougars' highest preseason ranking in 41 years. The last time BYU opened a season this high was 1985, when it began at No. 10 the year after winning the 1984 national championship.

BYU is tied for No. 14 with USC at 839 points in the poll released August 17. It is the first time the Cougars have appeared in a preseason AP Top 25 since joining the Big 12 in 2023 — and they are not alone from the state: Utah opens at No. 21 with 304 points, putting two Utah programs in the preseason rankings for the first time in years.

Where is BYU ranked to start 2026?

BYU is No. 14 in the 2026 AP preseason poll, tied with USC on 839 points. Inside the Big 12 the Cougars sit behind only defending league champion Texas Tech, which opens at No. 12 — the same Red Raiders team that beat BYU in the 2025 Big 12 Championship Game. Houston, at No. 23, is the only other Big 12 program in the preseason top 25, which frames BYU as one of the clear favorites in a wide-open conference race.

That top-25 placement is itself a marker: it is BYU's first preseason AP Top 25 appearance as a Big 12 member, three years into the move up from independence. And having Utah ranked 21st alongside the Cougars is its own kind of statement for the state — two Utah programs the voters expect to contend, in the same conference, entering the same season. For a state used to sending its best talent elsewhere and watching from the outside, this is the rare August in which both of its flagship football programs open inside the national conversation rather than chasing it.

Why No. 14 is a 41-year milestone

The historical weight is the story. BYU's only previous preseason ranking this high came in 1985, when the Cougars started No. 10 as the reigning national champions — Steve Young had just left, and the program was fresh off LaVell Edwards' 1984 title run. Everything since has been lower. Forty-one years later, a preseason No. 14 is the highest the program has been trusted to open a season, and it arrives without a national championship the year before to inflate it. This ranking is built on recent results, not legacy.

A 12-2 season built this ranking

Those results were emphatic. BYU went 12-2 in 2025 (8-1 in the Big 12) and reached the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time in program history, falling to Texas Tech with a conference title and a likely College Football Playoff berth on the line. A 12-win season and a championship-game appearance are exactly the kind of body of work that turns voters into believers — and they explain why one national analysis of the AP preseason poll flagged BYU as one of the most underrated teams of the past decade rather than a fluke top-15 team.

Bear Bachmeier and the year-two leap

Much of the optimism runs through quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who started as a true freshman in 2025 after transferring from Stanford and now returns for year two under 11th-year head coach Kalani Sitake. Sitake has spent the offseason preaching durability — he wants Bachmeier to play smarter and protect himself after the quarterback got banged up during the Cougars' run to the title game. A healthier, more experienced Bachmeier is the single biggest variable between BYU's floor and its ceiling in 2026.

The schedule that could validate it

BYU gets a chance to back up the ranking almost immediately, and mostly at home. The Cougars open Saturday, September 5, against in-state Utah Tech at LaVell Edwards Stadium (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN+), host Arizona in a Big 12 opener on September 12, and welcome Notre Dame to Provo on October 17 for a marquee nonconference test. Seven home games give BYU a real platform to prove that No. 14 is a starting point, not a ceiling.

For now the marker is set, and it is historic: BYU opens 2026 ranked higher than it has to start any season since 1985.

Key facts:

• Ranking: BYU is No. 14 in the 2026 AP preseason Top 25 (tied with USC, 839 points)
• Milestone: Highest preseason AP ranking for BYU since 1985 (No. 10) — a span of 41 years
• Big 12 context: Behind only No. 12 Texas Tech (defending champ); Houston is No. 23; Utah is No. 21
• How they earned it: 12-2 in 2025 (8-1 Big 12), first Big 12 Championship Game appearance (lost to Texas Tech)
• Quarterback: Bear Bachmeier returns for year two under 11th-year head coach Kalani Sitake
• Opener: Saturday, September 5, 2026 vs. Utah Tech at LaVell Edwards Stadium (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN+); Notre Dame visits October 17