Brigham Young Cougars forward Gavin Baxter (51) hangs on the rim after dunking on the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021. BYU won 75-64.
Brigham Young Cougars forward Gavin Baxter (51) hangs on the rim after dunking on the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021. BYU won 75-64. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Following two more victories to stay undefeated combined with losses from a few teams in front of it, the BYU men’s basketball team made a big leap in the AP Top 25 poll released on Monday morning.

The Cougars, who entered the poll last week at No. 18, jumped all the way up to No. 12 this week.

BYU (6-0) beat Texas Southern and rival Utah last week (the Runnin’ Utes were 5-0 at the time), and then-No. 12 Houston, No. 14 Illinois and No. 16 St. Bonaventure all lost.

Gonzaga, the Cougars’ West Coast Conference foe, was ranked No. 1 before losing to No. 5 Duke, which is now No. 1.

Purdue rose to No. 2, Gonzaga is now No. 3, Baylor, a future Big 12 opponent of BYU’s, is No. 4 and UCLA of the Pac-12 rounds out the top five.

Elsewhere among the Cougars’ future Big 12 opponents, Kansas is No. 8 and Iowa State is No. 19.

Texas, which is now in the Big 12 but of course will be moving to the SEC, is No. 7.

From the Pac-12 beside UCLA, Arizona is No. 11 and USC is No. 20.



BYU men’s basketball makes big jump in AP Top 25
Source: Gabriella Pinoys