College Football : USC Falls to No. 5 in Poll, Miami Moves Up to No. 2

USC, beaten by top-ranked Notre Dame, 27-10, Saturday, fell from No. 2 to No. 5 Monday in the Associated Press’ next-to-last regular-season poll.

Notre Dame was a near-unanimous choice as the nation’s top college football team.

Defending national champion Miami, an 18-16 winner over previously unbeaten Arkansas, improved from third to second. West Virginia, Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl opponent on Jan. 2, jumped from fourth to third. It was the highest ranking in the poll’s 53 years for the Mountaineers, who, as did Notre Dame, completed an 11-0 regular season for the first time.

Notre Dame, which is No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week, received 57 of 60 first-place votes and 1,197 of a possible 1,200 points from a nationwide panel of sportswriters and sportscasters.

The Hurricanes, whose only loss was 31-30 at Notre Dame when Miami tried a 2-point conversion pass that failed with 45 seconds left, received 1 first-place vote and 1,124 points. The Hurricanes (9-1) conclude their regular season Saturday against Brigham Young.

The other two first-place votes went to West Virginia, which totaled 1,069 points.

Florida State (10-1) climbed from fifth to fourth with 1,013 points, followed by USC (10-1) with 946 points. Nebraska (11-1) held onto sixth place with 891 points, and Auburn (10-1) remained seventh with 865 points. UCLA (9-2) rose from ninth place to eighth with 733 points, edging Arkansas (10-1), which slipped from eighth to ninth with 731 points. Oklahoma (9-2) was 10th. The second 10 are Michigan, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Houston, Wyoming, LSU, Washington State, Syracuse, Georgia and Alabama.

The AP will conduct its final regular-season poll after next weekend’s games and will announce the national champion on Jan. 3.