COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : AROUND THE NATION : Louisville Finally Breaks Into Top 25

Louisville might be the bottom team in the Top 25, but Coach Howard Schnellenberger is feeling on top of the world.

“Hallelujah! That’s like being knighted by the Queen of England,” Schnellenberger said after the Cardinals gained a ranking in the Associated Press college football poll for the first time in 18 seasons.

Louisville (7-1-1) moved up to 25th after beating Western Kentucky, 41-7, Saturday. It is the Cardinals’ first ranking since the final poll of the 1972 season, when they finished 18th with a 9-1 record.

Louisville went 2-9, 3-8 and 3-7-1 in Schnellenberger’s first three seasons. Since the start of the 1988 season, the Cardinals are 21-9-1.

“Five years ago, we were the worst football team in America,” said Schnellenberger, who led Miami to the 1983 national championship. “It was a slow, uphill struggle to arrive at this position in time. . . . It is gratifying.”

The Cardinals were snubbed by the bowls after going 8-3 in 1988, but that might change this year. They haven’t made a postseason appearance since the 1977 Independence Bowl, a 24-14 loss to Louisiana Tech.

Virginia, which did not play Saturday, remained No. 1 for the third straight week while unbeaten but unimpressive Auburn (6-0-1) fell from second to fourth in the poll.

Notre Dame (6-1) climbed one to second after beating Pittsburgh, 31-22, and Nebraska (8-0) rose a notch to third after downing 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.

Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Ross said the 16th-ranked Yellow Jackets are ready to play No. 1 Virginia Saturday, although he acknowledged the opposition will be formidable.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game for us, but I think our kids will really be ready to play,” Ross said. “Hopefully, we’ll give a good accounting of ourselves.”

In addition to its possible impact on the national rankings, the showdown between Virginia, 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Tech (6-0-1, 4-0-1) will establish a front-runner for the conference title.

“You have to believe that Virginia is very deserving of its ranking,” Ross said. “They have one of the premier quarterbacks in all of college football in Shawn Moore. Defensively, they’re really solid in their outside people and secondary.”