Virginia Climbs to No. 1 in UPI Poll for First Time

The euphoria that has gripped Charlottesville, Va., all football season reached new heights Saturday when Michigan State upset Michigan, 28-27, and created a vacuum at the top of the nation’s college football polls.

That vacuum was filled Sunday in the United Press International poll, which, for the first time, made Virginia its No. 1 team. The Associated Press poll will be released today.

The Cavaliers had climbed to No. 3 in the UPI poll and No. 2 in the AP a week ago on the basis of a 5-0 record--that became 6-0 with a 31-0 victory over North Carolina State on Saturday--and several upsets of other teams.

Virginia Coach George Welsh was reserved in his response to questions about rising to No. 1. “I’m not really into the rankings at this point,” he said. “We’ve still got five more games to play.”

The first of those is against Wake Forest on Saturday.

Oddly, Nebraska, second-ranked a week ago in the UPI poll, dropped to third even though it beat Missouri, 69-21, Saturday. Miami climbed over Nebraska after beating Kansas, 34-0. Kansas is the only team that has played Miami and Virginia, losing to the Cavaliers, 59-10, in the season’s first week. “I think Miami is a lot better than Virginia,” Kansas Coach Glen Mason said Saturday.