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| Sunday, October 1 Nebraska wins, but loses top spot to Florida State Associated Press | |||
| There's a new No. 1 in town and it's Florida State, the
defending national champion.
The Seminoles returned to the top spot in The Associated Press
Top 25 poll Sunday even though former No. 1 Nebraska remained
unbeaten with a 42-24 win against Missouri.
Florida State (5-0), which became the first team to go
wire-to-wire in the poll last season, moved well ahead of Nebraska
(4-0) following balloting by the 71 sports writers and broadcasters
on the AP panel.
The Seminoles collected 42 first-place votes and 1,745 points,
while the Cornhuskers had 28 first-place votes and 1,731 points
after a third consecutive harder-than-expected victory. Florida
State defeated Maryland 59-7 Thursday night.
Last week, Nebraska had 39 first-place votes and 1,743 points to
Florida State's 30 first-place votes and 1,732 points. In the new
poll, Florida State gained 12 first-place votes; Nebraska lost 11
first-place votes.
In the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, the top five are Nebraska,
Florida State, Virginia Tech, Kansas State and Clemson.
Oregon State moved into the AP poll for the first time since
Jan. 4, 1969. The Beavers (4-0), who beat USC 31-21 for their first
win over the Trojans after 26 consecutive losses in a 33-year span,
are ranked No. 23.
The Top 25 underwent a top-to-bottom shakeup as nine teams
ranked last week were beaten -- seven by unranked teams.
Virginia Tech (4-0), a 48-34 winner at Boston College, moved up
to No. 3, replacing Florida, a 47-35 loser to Mississippi State.
The Gators (4-1) tumbled to No. 12.
Kansas State (5-0) moved up a spot to No. 4 after a 44-21 win at
Colorado, followed by No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Miami,
No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Oklahoma. Kansas State
received one first-place vote.
It's rare for a No. 1 team to fall after winning. The last time
it happened was 1997, when Penn State dropped from the top spot
twice, once after a 57-21 win against Louisville (Florida took
over), and again after a 16-15 win over Minnesota (Nebraska took
over); and Nebraska dropped after an overtime win over Missouri
(Michigan took over and won the AP national title in '97).
In 1994, Nebraska won a national title after it moved into the
No. 1 spot late in the season when Penn State fell to No. 2 despite
beating Indiana 35-29.
Florida State's ascent to No. 1 comes a week before the
Seminoles play at No. 7 Miami, which moved up three places after a
64-6 rout of Rutgers.
"It doesn't mean a thing at this time," Florida State coach
Bobby Bowden said Sunday. "Especially when we're going to a place
like Miami this week. It just gives them more fuel for the fire.
Playing down at their place is always tough, and this will give
them extra incentive. But our goal is to end up No. 1."
Huskers coach Frank Solich says it's too early to start worrying
about rankings.
"It's still anybody's guess as to who the best team in the
country is and I think people understand that at this point in the
season," Solich said. "Certainly we're not disappointed in any
way, shape or form. We just feel good that we're 4-0 and still in
the ballpark."
Texas was No. 11, followed by No. 12 Florida, No. 13 Washington,
No. 14 TCU, No. 15 Auburn, No. 16 UCLA, No. 17 Southern
Mississippi, No. 18 USC, No. 19 Georgia and No. 20 Mississippi
State. USC dropped 10 places after its loss to Oregon State.
Tennessee, a 38-31 overtime loser at LSU, was No. 21 -- down 10
places -- followed by No. 22 Northwestern, No. 23 Oregon State, No.
24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Notre Dame.
Michigan moved up three spots to No. 6 with a 13-10 win over
Wisconsin (3-2), which fell seven places to No. 24; and Oregon
leaped 11 spots to No. 9 with its 23-16 win over Washington (3-1) ,
which fell seven places to No. 13.
Northwestern, a 37-17 winner over Michigan State, returned to
the Top 25 for the first time since early in the 1997 season.
Dropping out of the poll this week were Illinois, Michigan
State, Purdue and South Carolina (4-1), which lost at Alabama,
27-17. | |||
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