No Doubt About It: Miami Is No. 1
Oct. 14, 2001
ARLINGTON, Va. (SportsTicker) – After routing one of its archrivals, Miami now has a commanding lead atop the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ football poll, which was released Sunday morning.
The Hurricanes (5-0), who posted 49-27 victory over then-No. 13 Florida State on Saturday, received 23 more first-place votes than a week again and holds a 41-point lead on defending national champion Oklahoma (6-0).
Most of those votes came from Florida (5-1), which was No. 2 last week but dropped to seventh after a last-second 23-20 loss to Auburn.
Oklahoma’s first-place vote total increased by one to 11, while third-ranked Nebraska (7-0) received the final first-place nod. Fourth-ranked Virginia Tech (6-0) and Oregon (6-0) complete the top five.
Also members of the top 10 are sixth-ranked UCLA (5-0), No. 8 Texas (5-1), Michigan (5-1) and Fresno State (6-0).
UCLA joined Miami in posting perhaps the most important victories of the weekend. The Bruins rolled over Pac-10 Conference rival and then-No. 8 Washington, 35-13, dropping the Huskies (4-1) to 12th.
Tennessee (3-1) is ranked 11th and Brigham Young (6-0) is 13th followed by a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference teams, Maryland (6-0) and Clemson (4-1).
South Carolina (5-1) took the week’s biggest fall, down seven notches to 16th following its 10-7 loss to Arkansas.
The newcomers to the rankings are No. 17 Colorado (5-1), Washington State (6-0), Georgia (4-1) and No. 21 Auburn (5-1). They replace Texas A&M, Kansas State, Stanford and Ohio State.
Rounding out the rankings are No. 20 Northwestern (4-1), No. 22 Florida State (3-2), Toledo (5-0), Purdue (4-1) and Georgia Tech (4-2).
The USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college football coaches’ poll, with number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking:
(Records through October 14, 2001)
TEAM PTS PVS —- — — 1. Miami Fla (48) (5-0) 1,481 1 2. Oklahoma (11) (6-0) 1,440 3 3. Nebraska (1) (7-0) 1,382 4 4. Virginia Tech (6-0) 1,279 5 5. Oregon (6-0) 1,244 6 6. UCLA (5-0) 1,239 7 7. Florida (5-1) 1,067 2 8. Texas (5-1) 1,018 11 9. Michigan (5-1) 1,009 1210. Fresno St (6-0) 979 1011. Tennessee (3-1) 806 1412. Washington (4-1) 713 813. BYU (6-0) 697 1714. Maryland (6-0) 690 2015. Clemson (4-1) 636 1816. South Carolina (5-1) 587 917. Colorado (5-1) 449 NR18. Washington St (6-0) 379 NR19. Georgia (4-1) 338 NR20. Northwestern (4-1) 320 2421. Auburn (5-1) 300 NR22. Florida St (3-2) 297 1323. Toledo (5-0) 249 2324. Purdue (4-1) 227 1625. Georgia Tech (4-2) 161 15
Dropped Out: No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 21 Kansas St, No. 22Stanford, No. 25 Ohio St
Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 126, Michigan St 83, TexasA&M 69, Stanford 52, LSU 46, Marshall 21, Oregon St 19,Syracuse 19, Louisville 18, Ohio St 15, Kansas St 12, SoMississippi 9, Wisconsin 7, Mississippi 6, North Carolina5, Utah 3, Air Force 1, Arkansas 1, Iowa St 1.