Hurricanes Alone At No. 1
Sept 2, 2002
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Miami reclaimed sole possession of the top spot inThe Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, two days after a lopsided win overDivision I-AA Florida A&M.
The Hurricanes received 34 first-place votes, seven more than last week,when they were tied at No. 1 with Oklahoma. The Sooners were second with 21first-place votes and 1,744 points, 39 less than Miami.
Texas remained third, followed by Tennessee, Florida State and Florida.
The Hurricanes beat Florida A&M 63-17 Saturday night, scoring touchdowns onsix of their first eight possessions and then resting their starters for thisweek’s game at Florida.
“The polls don’t mean too much right now,” Miami defensive end MattWalters said. “It’s nice to be No. 1, but we aren’t worried about that. Wejust want to win all of our games. We know that if we win all of our games,then we’re going to be in the national championship game.
“Even if we win next week by one point and fall to No. 4, we could careless because if we win them all, everything will work out and we’ll be in thebig show – the Fiesta Bowl.”
The Sooners opened the season with an unimpressive first half against Tulsaon Friday. They finished with 509 yards and a 37-0 victory, but three turnoversand several dropped passes overshadowed the outcome.
Michigan made the biggest strides, moving up six spots from No. 13 to No. 7,following a last-second victory over Washington. The Huskies fell from No. 11to No. 14.
Ohio State, Nebraska and Georgia rounded out the top 10.
Colorado and LSU had the biggest drops, falling 10 spots each. The Buffaloesslipped to No. 17 after a 19-14 loss Saturday to in-state rival Colorado State.The Tigers slid to No. 24 following Sunday’s 26-8 loss at Virginia Tech.
Washington State was No. 11, followed by Virginia Tech, Oregon, Washingtonand Michigan State.
The rest of the top 20 were Marshall, Colorado, Southern Cal, Colorado Stateand Texas A&M.
Colorado State was one of three newcomers in the poll, joining Notre Dameand Wisconsin.
North Carolina State, South Carolina, Notre Dame, LSU and Wisconsin roundedout the poll.
The Fighting Irish debuted at No. 23 – returning to the rankings for thefirst time since last September – after a 22-0 win over defending AtlanticCoast Conference champion Maryland.
The Badgers were back at No. 25 after beating UNLV on Saturday. Wisconsinopened the season in the poll’s final spot but dropped out after barely beatingFresno State.
Penn State, Maryland and Louisville fell out of the rankings.
