Boise State moves to No. 17 in AP poll, highest ranking since 2019

BOISE — Boise State continues to climb the Associated Press Top 25 college football rankings, checking in at No. 17 on Sunday after a straightforward 62-30 victory over Utah State on Saturday evening.

The Broncos jumped four spots, improving upon last week’s ranking of No. 21. Boise State’s standing at No. 17 is the highest the Broncos have been ranked since they were No. 14 in week 8 of the 2019 season.

BYU is ranked 14th and Utah comes in at No. 16.

It’s the first time Boise State has been ranked in three consecutive weeks since the 2019 season, when the Broncos spent most of the year in the Top 25 en route to a 12-2 finish and Mountain West championship. They lost to Washington 38-7 in the Las Vegas Bowl that season.

The Broncos accumulated 463 points in this week’s voting, just behind No. 16 Utah (473 points) and ahead of No. 18 Kansas State, Indiana and Oklahoma, which all earned 459 points. Boise State also checked into the Top 25 of the Coaches Poll for the first time this season, coming in at No. 22 with 213 points.

The Broncos just missed out last week by one spot, but a 44-41 loss by Mountain West foe UNLV to Syracuse — as well as some other favorable results — allowed Boise State to enter the rankings.

UNLV was No. 25 in the AP Top 25 last week, but fell out after the overtime loss to Syracuse. In the Coaches Poll, the Broncos slot in ahead of No. 23 Illinois (179 points) and behind No. 21 Michigan (224 points).

Despite this year’s Boise State team bringing a level of excitement not seen in about half a decade, Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said he is trying to keep his team’s feet firmly planted on the blue turf.

“When you’re successful, you fight the pats on the back, to where the easy thing to do is then become very comfortable and relaxed with your prep because everyone’s telling you you’re doing a great job,” Danielson said earlier this week. “The only reason you’re doing a good job is because of how you prepped and how you worked. And the second you take your foot off the gas, that will catch you.”

Boise State will look to continue climbing up the rankings with a road trip to Hawaii (2-3, 0-1 Mountain West) next weekend. That will be followed by the second bye week of the season.

Here’s the full AP Top 25 for week 7. The number in brackets indicates first-place votes. Two teams are tied at No. 11 with 853 points, and three teams are tied at No. 18 with 459 votes.

AP TOP 25
1. Texas (52)
2. Ohio State (9)
3. Oregon
4. Penn State
5. Georgia
6. Miami
7. Alabama
8. Tennessee
9. Ole Miss
10. Clemson
11. Iowa State
11. Notre Dame
13. LSU
14. BYU
15. Texas A&M
16. Utah
17. Boise State
18. Kansas State
18. Indiana
18. Oklahoma
21. Missouri
22. Pittsburgh
23. Illinois
24. Michigan
25. SMU