Predicting BYU's Ranking After Win Over No. 9 Baylor
On Saturday night, no. 21 BYU took down no. 9 Baylor in a double overtime thriller. After a wild weekend of college football, the third AP poll of the season will be released on Sunday. Today, we predict BYU's AP ranking in week three.
Opportunities to move up
Week two was full of top 25 upsets. Six teams ranked ahead of BYU suffered losses this weekend, leaving BYU plenty of room to move up the rankings.
- Texas A&M (no. 6)
- Notre Dame (no. 8)
- Baylor (no. 9)
- Florida (no. 12)
- Pitt (no. 17)
- Wisconsin (no. 19)
There's a case to be made that all of these teams will fall below BYU in the rankings. At minimum, Wisconsin, Pitt, Florida, and Baylor are likely to be ranked below the Cougars.
Risk of being leapfrogged
After a win over a top 10 team, there is little risk to being leapfrogged in the rankings. Tennessee, who is ranked no. 24, is a candidate after taking down no. 17 Pitt. That feels unlikely, however, since BYU beat a team that was ranked higher than Pitt.
Best-case scenario
In the best-case scenario, BYU would surpass all the teams that lost and leapfrog a few others on its way to a top-10 ranking. BYU has already been included in the top 10 in at least one submission.
Best-case scenario ranking: 9
Worst-case scenario
There were probably few national voters that were asleep by the time BYU beat Baylor. Perhaps a quick glance over the box score will only be enough for those voters to move the Cougars ahead of the obvious teams that lost.
Worst-case scenario ranking: 15
Most likely scenario
I think BYU will surpass Baylor, Notre Dame, Florida, Pitt, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. I also think BYU will leapfrog a few teams like NC State, Utah, and Miami to reach the top 12.
Most likely ranking: 12
