By Martin Harris
BYU”s football team has jumped to No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Cougars (3-0, 7-0), coming off a 63-33 win against Air Force climbed from 13th to 10th in the poll. It is the first time the Cougars have earned a top-10 spot since the end of the 1996 season.
“It”s exciting, but we want to keep moving up,” said offensive lineman Ben Archibald. “We don”t want to look at the ranking for too long because we can”t get complacent.”
The Cougars are one of only eight teams that remain undefeated, along with Oklahoma, Nebraska, UCLA, Miami, Virginia Tech, Maryland and Washington State.
One of the reasons for the Cougars” success is the performance of their offense, which leads the nation, averaging 48.9 points per game. The offense ranks second nationally with 543 total yards of offense per game.
“The top-10 ranking is great because it shows the nation we have a good team,” said safety Michael Madsen.
The Associated Press media poll moved BYU from 18th to 16th. The lower rating in the AP poll is due in part to the media moving Washington State from 19th to 14th after Washington State beat Montana State last week.
The first Bowl Championship Series rankings were released Monday afternoon, October 22. Oklahoma, Nebraska, UCLA, Miami and Virginia Tech are the top five teams.
Seven of the eight undefeated teams are ranked in the BCS top 10. Unfortunately for the Cougars, BYU was the one left out and is not found among the top 15.
“I”m not for this system (the BCS); I”m for a playoff system,” head coach Gary Crowton said. “I believe that gives everyone an equal opportunity.”
With six games remaining, all the Cougars can do is keep winning and hope the teams ahead of them lose.
“We just have to keep winning and things will work out,” Archibald said.
The Cougars” next chance to move up in the polls comes when they travel to play San Diego State on Saturday, October 27.
