BYU Football left outside the first AP Top 25 Poll.

Today marked the first AP poll for the season.  As expected the top spot was occupied by the Florida State Seminoles followed by Alabama and Oregon.  Oklahoma and Ohio State rounded out the top five, giving each of the power five conferences a representative.

In a poll that is not part of the playoff picture, yet has more prestige than the coaches poll, the first few weeks rarely mean anything and rarely hold up deep into the season.  In fact, it has been almost a decade since the team picked number 1 in the preseason poll has ended the season in the top spot.  Even with the lack of meaning this early, the anticipation for this poll almost matches the mid season excitement.

With this being said, where does BYU land?  In a disappointing, but not unexpected, showing the Cougars received a total of eight points which puts them behind 43 other teams.  These other teams include Northwestern (8), Boise State (10), TCU (23), Marshall (41), Duke (71), and UCF (94).  Utah State and Nevada also entered the others receiving votes with 1 point each.

What does this mean?  Really nothing, but it is a prestige factor at this point.  It also means that the Cougars will have an uphill battle to get into the top 25 anytime soon.  The Cougars will have their chances, but they will need to win.  It is interesting to see that the Cougars will face five teams in the others receiving votes section, but not one in current top 25.  If a couple of teams lose in the top 25 and Texas wins, they could sneak into the top 25 before playing BYU in week two.  At this point the best option for a top 25 opponent could be Central Florida as they are just on the outside looking in.  Here is a look at the full top 25 poll.  What do you think of the Cougars placement?