BYU Falls Out of Top 10 in AP Poll; Ga. Tech Gains First Ranking in 6 Years

Florida cracked the Top 10, Brigham Young dropped out of the elite group and Georgia Tech gained its first ranking in six years today in the Associated Press college football poll.

Florida, which can’t go to a bowl game because of NCAA violations, rose seven spots to No. 10 after beating Mississippi State 34-21 and improving its record to 4-0. It’s the first Top 10 appearance for the Gators since 1987.

BYU fell seven places to No. 11 after losing its first game of the season 32-16 to Oregon. The victory boosted Oregon into the rankings at No. 22.

USC’s storm-shortened 35-26 victory over Ohio State lifted the Trojans three notches to 15th and dropped the Buckeyes five slots to 20th.

Georgia Tech’s 27-6 victory over South Carolina moved the undefeated Yellow Jackets up to 23rd in the nationwide poll of sports writers and broadcasters. Tech hadn’t been ranked since 1984, when it got as high as 12th.

The loss dropped South Carolina, which was 25th last week, out of the rankings. Arizona State, 21st last week, also fell out of the Top 25 after a 30-9 loss to Missouri.

Notre Dame and Florida State remained 1-2 and combined to get all but one of the 60 first-place votes.

The Fighting Irish, who beat Purdue 37-11, received 49 first-place votes and 1,489 points. Florida State got 10 first-place votes and 1,420 points after rallying to beat Virginia Tech 39-28.

While the top two spots remained unchanged, there was movement elsewhere in the Top 10.

Michigan, which lost its opener to Notre Dame, jumped three spots to No. 3 after downing Maryland 45-17. Virginia rose three places to No. 4 and gained one first-place vote following a 63-35 victory over William & Mary. It is the highest ranking ever for the Cavaliers, who were never better than ninth prior to this season.

Auburn and Tennessee both dropped after battling to a 26-26 tie. Auburn fell two places to No. 5 and Tennessee went down a notch to No. 6.

Oklahoma jumped two spots to seventh after clipping Kansas 31-17, Nebraska stayed No. 8 after stopping Oregon State 31-7 and Miami rose one place to No. 9 with a 48-21 win over Iowa.

Colorado made the biggest jump, eight spots to No. 12, after handing Washington its first loss, 20-14. The Huskies fell five places to No. 17.

THE TOP 25

The top 25 teams in the AP college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses. 1. Notre Dame (49): 3-0-0 2. Florida St. (10): 4-0-0 3. Michigan: 2-1-0 4. Virginia (1): 5-0-0 5. Auburn: 2-0-2 6. Tennessee: 3-0-2 7. Oklahoma: 4-0-0 8. Nebraska: 4-0-0 9. Miami, Fla.: 2-1-0 10. Florida: 4-0-0 11. Brigham Young: 4-1-0 12. Colorado: 3-1-1 13. Houston: 3-0-0 13. Illinois: 2-1-0 15. USC: 3-1-0 16. Clemson: 4-1-0 17. Washington: 3-1-0 18. Michigan St.: 1-1-1 19. Texas A&M;: 3-1-0 20. Ohio St.: 2-1-0 21. Arkansas: 2-1-0 22. Oregon: 3-1-0 23. Georgia Tech: 3-0-0 24. Fresno St.: 5-0-0 25. Arizona: 3-1-0