LOGAN, Utah – For just the fourth time in school history, Utah State football ended a season nationally ranked as it is listed 21st in the final Amway Coaches’ poll and 22nd in the final Associated Press (AP) poll that were released Tuesday. Furthermore, it is just the third time USU has been nationally ranked in the AP poll at season’s end.
This is the first time Utah State has ended a season nationally ranked since 2012, when that team finished the year ranked 16th in the AP poll, 17th in the Coaches poll and 23rd in the final BCS standings as it went 11-2 and set the school record for wins.
The only other Aggie teams to finish a season nationally ranked are the 1972 team that finished with an 8-3 record and was ranked 19th in the final United Press International (UPI) poll and the 1961 team that posted a 9-1-1 record and was ranked 10th in both the final AP and UPI polls.
Utah State finished the 2018 season being ranked in the coaches poll in each of the final seven weeks, climbing as high as No. 14, and was ranked in the AP poll for four-straight weeks, climbing as high as No. 13. The only Aggie team to be ranked higher was the 1961 squad that finished 10th in the final AP poll. In fact, this is just the fourth USU team in school history to be ranked in the AP poll (1960, 1961, 2012, 2018). USU was also in the College Football Playoff rankings twice this year, coming in at No. 23 and No. 21 on Nov. 13 and 20, respectively.
Nationally, Utah State is one of just 14 teams to finish the 2018 season with 11 or more wins, joining Clemson (15), Alabama (14), Ohio State (13), Fresno State (12), Oklahoma (12), Notre Dame (12), UCF (12), Appalachian State (11), Army (11), Cincinnati (11), Georgia (11), UAB (11) and Washington State (11).
During the 2018 season, Utah State posted an 11-2 record to tie the 2012 team for most wins and best record in school history. This year’s team also tied for first place in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West with a 7-1 record to tie the 2013 team for most conference wins.
Utah State, which posted a 52-13 victory against North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl to notch its fifth bowl win in school history, concluded the 2018 season by setting 34 school records and tying six more, not to mention setting a Mountain West record for points scored in a season with 618.