Is BYU football a top-10 team? The final AP Top 25 just came out

PROVO — Not everybody can be Ohio State the morning after the national championship game.

The Buckeyes punched Notre Dame in the mouth, then held off a spirited comeback from the Fighting Irish to capture their first national championship since 2014 with a 34-23 win Monday night in Atlanta.

When the dust settled on the 2024-25 season, it was the Buckeyes (14-2) that emerged as champions, firing off four-straight postseason wins for the first time in college football history that included a 41-21 dismantling of previously unbeaten and top-ranked Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinals.

Few deserved the title of champions quite like Ryan Day and his company, who endured an onslaught of hand wringing and wresting — many of them from their own fanbase — after a 13-10 loss to archrival Michigan to end the regular season.

The Buckeyes were voted champions by the Associated Press, followed by Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas and Penn State.

"I just can't say enough about our guys and what they've overcome to get to this point," Day said after the scarlet-and-gray confetti fell at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. "They now have something to show for it."

But few programs ended the 2024 season quite like BYU, as well — even with disappointing losses to Kansas and Arizona State that likely kept the Cougars out of inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff contention.

Picked to finish 13th in the newly expanded 16-team Big 12 Conference, the Cougars were the darlings of the first nine weeks of the season before losing back-to-back to the Jayhawks and Sun Devils.

But an 11-2 final record that included a 7-2 mark in conference play and a thorough 36-14 win over then-No. 23 Colorado had many questioning whether BYU was too quickly dismissed from playoff discussion.

What some called the "most underrated team in America" wrapped up the season at No. 13 in the final AP Top 25. But a case can be made for a top-10 appearance.

The Cougars finished the regular season ranked No. 17 by the AP and College Football Playoff selection committee, as many as seven spots behind Big 12 champion Arizona State (by the AP) and ACC championship game contender SMU (by the selection committee).

In the nearly month-long onslaught of bowl games, all but one non-playoff team ranked immediately ahead of BYU lost (via Ole Miss' 52-20 win over Duke in the Gator Bowl), a group that included No. 11 Alabama (19-13 to unranked Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl) and South Carolina (21-17 to then-No. 20 Illinois in the Cheez-It Bowl).

"(We're) just looking forward to the momentum that we gain from this," Sitake said before eschewing any notion of coulda-woulda-shoulda following the Cougars' 13th 11-win season in program history in San Antonio. "Obviously, just really happy, want to celebrate with the seniors, but I think this is a really good step for us and I'm glad that we were able to get this done."

Indeed, in ESPN's annual "Way-Too-Early" top-25 rankings for the 2025 season, Mark Schlabach penciled in Ohio State atop the lists, just ahead of Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame — and BYU at No. 9. CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd rated BYU at No. 13, but added the Cougars "should emerge as the Big 12 favorite after an 11-win season."

With key losses including defensive stars Tyler Batty and Jakob Robinson and offensive line starters Connor Pay and Brayden Keim, Schlabach also noted the return of starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff, rising star running back LJ Martin, as well as wide receivers Chase Roberts, Keelan Marion — who was named an FWAA All-American first-team kick returner as well — and Parker Kingston, who took AP All-Bowl honors at punt returner.

That doesn't include a group of potential returnees like top receiver Darius Lassiter and offensive tackle Caleb Etienne, who could both potentially return by utilizing an extra season of eligibility in 2025 granted by the NCAA for all players who spent at least a year in the NJCAA (junior college) system like litigious Vanderbilt signal caller Diego Pavia.

It does include linebackers Harrison Taggart, Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly, who are all presumed to return, and safety Tanner Wall, who will led a young but talented group of underclassmen in the defensive backfield under third-year defensive coordinator Jay Hill.

The Cougars added several potential starters through the transfer portal, including Utah tight end Carsen Ryan and defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa, Texas edge rusher Tausili Akana, and Michigan offensive tackle Andrew Gentry, among others.

"Kalani Sitake has built a solid program that should contend int he Big 12 each season," Schlabach wrote. "The Cougars won't play Arizona State or Kansas State during the regular season, and road games at Iowa State and Colorado might be tricky."

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