Miami Starts as It Finished: No. 1

No. 1 in the postseason. No. 1 in the preseason.

Little has changed for the Miami Hurricanes since winning the national championship with a perfect record Jan. 3 at the Rose Bowl.

They’re atop the rankings in the Associated Press preseason poll released Saturday, hoping to become the first team to repeat as champion since Nebraska in 1994-95.

Despite the return of only 10 starters, Miami edged Oklahoma for the top spot by 14 points in voting by the 74 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel.

Miami had 27 first-place votes and 1,746 points to Oklahoma’s 21 first-place votes and 1,732 points.

“Having the media recognize our program and our returning players as the preseason No. 1 team not only acknowledges our potential but gives us another reason to try and repeat as national champions,” Miami Coach Larry Coker said.

Rounding out the top 10 were Florida State at No. 3 with 10 first-place votes, followed by Texas (13 first-place votes), Tennessee (three), Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Washington and Nebraska. The Big 12 has four top-10 teams--Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska.

USC was 20th, one of four Pacific 10 teams in the top 25, along with Washington, No. 11 Washington State and No. 15 Oregon.

Miami also is No. 1 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll.

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Former Brigham Young and San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young and 24 others were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.

“It’s a humbling thing,” said Young, who set 13 NCAA records. “I had no right to play college football, let alone professional football. How did this happen? That’s the thought that’s come out of being elected into the Hall of Fame.”

Young is the fourth straight BYU quarterback to enter the hall, joining Gifford Nielsen, who played from 1977-79, Marc Wilson (1977-79) and Jim McMahon (1977-81).

Others enshrined into the hall included former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, former Sooner tight end Keith Jackson, former Michigan receiver Anthony Carter and former Mississippi State linebacker D.D. Lewis, who told the audience at a morning news conference how he lost his wife, children and money battling drug and alcohol abuse after retiring from the Dallas Cowboys in 1981.

Lewis, 56, said he has been sober for more than 16 years. “You look at adversity, what it does is make better people of us,” he said.

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*--* AP Preseason Top 25 Rk Team 2001 Record Pts 1 Miami (27)...12-0 1,746 2 Oklahoma (21)...11-2 1,732 3 Florida St. (10)...8-4 1,683 4 Texas (13)...11-2 1,682 5 Tennessee (3)...11-2 1,601 6 Florida...10-2 1,313 7 Colorado...10-3 1,291 8 Georgia...8-4 1,179 9 Washington...8-4 1,133 10 Nebraska...11-2 1,131 11 Washington St....10-2 1,096 12 Michigan...8-4 1,061 13 Ohio St....7-5 1,029 14 LSU...10-3 832 15 Oregon...11-1 736 16 Virginia Tech...8-4 583 17 Louisville...11-2 574 18 Michigan St....7-5 468 19 Marshall...11-2 433 20 USC...6-6 420 21 Maryland...10-2 318 22 South Carolina...9-3 268 23 Texas A&M...8-4; 247 24 Penn St....5-6 221 25 Wisconsin...5-7 193 Others receiving votes: Kansas St. 171, N.C. State 154, Auburn 131, Boston College 108, Alabama 106, UCLA 59, Oregon St. 52, Illinois 51, Arkansas 50, Georgia Tech 47, Clemson 29, Southern Miss. 27, Purdue 24, Texas Tech 18, BYU 10, Utah 10, Mississippi 9, Colorado St. 6, Boise St. 4, Syracuse 4, Notre Dame 3, Fresno St. 2, North Carolina 2, Toledo 2, Middle Tennessee 1

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