After top-10 showdown loss, BYU drops as Utah rises in latest AP Top 25 rankings

SALT LAKE CITY — The trip to Lubbock, Texas, was not one to remember for BYU in a disappointing — although not entirely unexpected — weekend result.

BYU’s offense struggled to get much of anything going against a stout Texas Tech defense — the team finished with a season low 255 total yards, including just 67 rushing yards — but the Cougars are far from out of contention after the team’s first loss of the season.

The loss has potential to be a minor setback to what could still be a Big 12 title run if the Cougars can bounce back and not let one loss compound to others.

But with a loss came an obvious drop in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings, where the Cougars entered the weekend at No. 8, just one spot lower than the initial College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday.

On Sunday, BYU dropped four spots to No. 12 and is now the second-highest ranked team from the Big 12.

Texas Tech, which was previously ranked No. 9 in the AP poll, moved up just one spot to No. 8 to reclaim the top spot in the conference — a standing the Red Raiders held before dropping its only game of the season to Arizona State.

Behind Texas Tech and BYU from the Big 12 is No. 15 Utah, who was on its second bye week of the season before a road tilt against Baylor. The two-spot jump is still lower than where the CFP selection committee had Utah last week at No. 13, though the Utes likely received a boost from the aforementioned ranking.

Also ranked from the Big 12 is No. 22 Cincinnati, who was also on a bye week after a blowout loss to Utah. The Bearcats, who will play BYU in two weeks, remain locked in the standings with the Cougars now, with the winner of that game likely to face Texas Tech in the conference championship game, though other tiebreaking scenarios could alter the landscape.

Houston and Arizona State are the only other Big 12 teams receiving votes this week.

On a relatively quiet weekend for the top teams in the country — with a little drama mixed in — the top five teams remained the same this week, with Ohio State maintaining its standing at No. 1 with 55 first-place votes, just one more than the previous week.

Behind the Buckeyes is Indiana with six first-place votes after a weekend scare against Penn State, followed by Texas A&M (four first-place votes), Alabama and Georgia to round out the top five.

Full rankings.