Hurricanes Remain Consensus No. 1 In Football Rankings
Sept. 23, 2001
New York (AP) – Miami’s lead in the Associated Press Top 25 football rankings continued to strengthen while Florida State stumbled, then tumbled in the AP media poll.
The Seminoles, 41-9 losers to North Carolina, dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in three years on Sunday and landed at No. 18 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
With its worst regular-season defeat since a 53-14 loss to Florida in 1983, Florida State dropped 12 spots, while the top five of Miami, Florida, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas did not change.
The Seminoles are out of the top 10 for the first time in 53 polls. Also, the 32-point loss was the worst by a top 10 team to an unranked team since No. 4 Penn State lost to Michigan State 49-14 on Nov. 29, 1997.
In the first AP poll since Sept. 9, the idle Hurricanes received 39 first-place votes and 1,749 points from the 72 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel. The Gators, 44-10 winners at Kentucky, had 15 first-place votes and 1,717 points.
The Sooners, also off this weekend, had 11 first-place votes and 1,639 points. The Cornhuskers, who beat Rice 48-3 on Thursday night, collected two first-place votes, and the Longhorns had four first-place votes after their 53-26 win over Houston.
There was no poll last week after all 58 Division I-A games were called off in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
Rounding out the top 10 are No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 10 Fresno State, which received one first-place vote.
The top five teams in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll match the AP poll, with Florida State falling to No. 15.
Kansas State moved up to No. 11 in the AP poll, followed by No. 12 UCLA, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 LSU, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 17 Michigan, No. 18 Florida State, No. 19 Oregon State and No. 20 BYU.
Florida State’s ranking is its lowest since a No. 19 showing in the Oct. 3, 1989 poll.
Mississippi State, which lost to South Carolina 16-14 on Thursday night, fell four spots to No. 21, followed by four newcomers — No. 22 Illinois (3-0), No. 23 Michigan State (2-0), No. 24 Purdue (2-0) and No. 25 Toledo (3-0).
Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Louisville dropped out of the Top 25. Illinois beat Louisville 34-10, Michigan State defeated Notre Dame 17-10, Purdue beat Akron 33-14, and Toledo beat Central Michigan 52-28.
The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll, withnumber of first-place votes and record in parentheses,total points and previous ranking:
(Records through September 23, 2001)
TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Miami Fla (39) (2-0) 1,749 1 2. Florida (15) (3-0) 1,717 2 3. Oklahoma (11) (3-0) 1,639 3 4. Nebraska (2) (4-0) 1,549 4 5. Texas (4) (3-0) 1,519 5 6. Oregon (3-0) 1,342 7 7. Tennessee (2-0) 1,312 8 8. Virginia Tech (3-0) 1,298 9 9. Georgia Tech (3-0) 1,135 1010. Fresno St (1) (4-0) 1,102 1111. Kansas St (2-0) 1,080 1212. UCLA (3-0) 1,033 1413. Washington (2-0) 1,003 1314. LSU (2-0) 851 1515. South Carolina (3-0) 804 1816. Northwestern (2-0) 772 1617. Michigan (2-1) 627 2018. Florida St (2-1) 589 619. Oregon St (1-1) 323 2220. BYU (3-0) 305 2421. Mississippi St (1-1) 231 1722. Illinois (3-0) 227 NR23. Michigan St (2-0) 215 NR24. Purdue (2-0) 184 NR25. Toledo (3-0) 140 NR
Dropped Out: No. 19 Clemson, No. 21 Ohio St, No. 23 NotreDame, No. 25 Louisville
Others Receiving Votes: Colorado 108, Stanford 87, Clemson82, Ohio St 75, Maryland 60, Wisconsin 47, Texas A&M 35,Alabama 27, Georgia 23, So Mississippi 22, Washington St19, North Carolina 13, Virginia 11, Arizona 8, BostonCollege 6, East Carolina 5, Iowa 5, Louisville 5, NoCarolina St 4, Auburn 3, USC 3, Syracuse 3, Mississippi 2,Bowling Green 1.
