Virginia Still No. 1; Auburn Slips in Poll

L.A. Times Archives

Oct. 29, 1990 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

Virginia remained No. 1 for the third straight week, while unbeaten but unimpressive Auburn fell from second to fourth in today’s Associated Press college football poll.

The Cavaliers (7-0), who meet Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown Saturday, received 44 first-place votes and 1,462 points from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Virginia did not play last week.

Notre Dame (6-1) moved up one spot to second after beating Pittsburgh, 31-22, and Nebraska (8-0) rose a notch to third after defeating Iowa State, 45-13. The Irish received six first-place votes and 1,380 points, while Nebraska got five first-place votes and 1,350 points.

Auburn (6-0-1) lost support after edging Mississippi State, 17-16, on a blocked extra point with 2 1/2 minutes left. The Tigers got two first-place votes and 1,284 points--a drop of two first-place votes and 86 points from the previous week. Although Auburn is one of six unbeaten teams, three of its last four victories have come by three points or less.

USC (6-2) remained No. 21 after defeating Arizona State, 13-6.

There was no change in rankings from No. 5 through No. 8. Illinois (6-1) stayed No. 5, followed by Houston (7-0), Washington (7-1) and Miami (5-2). Illinois beat Wisconsin, 21-3, Houston overwhelmed Arkansas, 62-28, Washington routed California, 46-7, and Miami defeated Texas Tech, 45-10.

Houston received two first-place votes and Washington got one.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Colorado (7-1-1) and Brigham Young (6-1). Colorado moved up one place to ninth after beating Oklahoma, 32-23, and BYU dropped one spot to 10th after defeating New Mexico 55-31.

Tennessee, which did not play, is 11th. Next, in order, are Florida State, Iowa, Texas, Florida, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Clemson, Wyoming, Michigan, USC, Oregon, Arizona, Penn State and Louisville.

Oklahoma, 22nd in last week’s poll, and Texas Christian, 24th last week, fell out of the Top 25 and were replaced by Penn State and Louisville.

Penn State, which has won five straight since starting 0-2, moved up to 24th after beating Alabama, 9-0. The Nittany Lions were 21st in the preseason poll, but dropped out of the rankings after losing their opener to Texas.

Louisville (7-1-1) gained its first ranking in 18 years after beating Western Kentucky, 41-7. The Cardinals were 18th in the final poll of the 1972 season with a 9-1 record.

THE TOP 25 The top 25 teams in the AP college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses. 1. Virginia (44) 7-0-0

2. Notre Dame (6) 6-1-0

3. Nebraska (5) 8-0-0

4. Auburn (2) 6-0-1

5. Illinois 6-1-0

6. Houston (2) 7-0-0

7. Washington (1) 7-1-0

8. Miami, Fla. 5-2-0

9. Colorado 7-1-1

10. Brigham Young 6-1-0

11. Tennessee 4-1-2

12. Florida State 5-2-0