Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Oklahoma out of AP poll; Clemson in

NEW YORK -- Over the past decade, Oklahoma has rarely been out of AP Top 25 and Stanford has rarely been in.

On Sunday, the Sooners and Cardinal sort of swapped places.

Oklahoma dropped out of the college football poll for the first time since 2005, and No. 25 Stanford moved into the rankings for the first time since 2001.

No. 24 Clemson also made it into the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Tigers (6-3) beat Florida State 40-24 to take control of the ACC's Atlantic division race.

Clemson was not ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll but did finish 26th overall.

The first six spots in the AP poll were held by major college football's six unbeaten teams, with Florida, Texas and Alabama making up the top three for the second consecutive week. Florida received 39 first-place votes, Texas received 10 and Alabama 11.

TCU moved up two spots to No. 4, bumping No. 5 Cincinnati and No. 6 Boise State back a spot.

Oklahoma had managed to stay in the rankings this season while losing three close games without star quarterback Sam Bradford, but Saturday's 10-3 loss at Nebraska dropped the Sooners to 5-4 and out of the media poll.

Since 2000, the '05 season had been the only one in which Oklahoma spent any time unranked. The Sooners lost two games early and were out of the rankings from mid-September until the final poll. Oklahoma won its bowl game and finished 8-4 that season.

Notre Dame and California also dropped out after losses.

The rest of the top 10 is Georgia Tech at No. 7, followed by Pittsburgh, Ohio State and LSU.

Iowa dropped seven spots to No. 15 after losing for the first time this season, a 17-10 upset at home by Northwestern. The Hawkeyes fell out of the national championship race but are still in control of their Big Ten title hopes. Iowa and Ohio State play in Columbus on Saturday with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.

Stanford (6-3) moved into rankings after knocking off Oregon 51-42 to become bowl eligible. The Cardinal finished the 2001 season ranked, but haven't been since. That was also the last season Stanford played in a bowl.

Oregon fell seven spots to No. 14.

South Florida moved back into the rankings during an off week.

Southern California starts the second 10, followed by Miami and Houston.

Utah, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Penn State and Virginia Tech are 16-20. The Nittany Lions dropped eight spots after a 24-7 loss at home to Ohio State.

Joining the three new teams in the final five were No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 22 BYU.

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The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 7, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts Pvs
1. Florida (39) 9-0 1,467 1
2. Texas (10) 9-0 1,430 2
3. Alabama (11) 9-0 1,422 3
4. TCU 9-0 1,271 6
5. Cincinnati 9-0 1,263 4
6. Boise St. 9-0 1,228 5
7. Georgia Tech 9-1 1,127 10
8. Pittsburgh 8-1 945 14
9. LSU 7-2 904 9
10. Ohio St. 8-2 898 15
11. Southern Cal 7-2 834 12
12. Miami 7-2 805 16
13. Houston 8-1 783 13
14. Oregon 7-2 752 7
15. Iowa 9-1 741 8
16. Utah 8-1 706 17
17. Oklahoma St. 7-2 492 18
18. Arizona 6-2 476 21
19. Penn St. 8-2 467 11
20. Virginia Tech 6-3 275 22
21. Wisconsin 7-2 274 24
22. BYU 7-2 219 25
23. South Florida 6-2 167 —
24. Clemson 6-3 149 —
25. Stanford 6-3 107 —

Others receiving votes: Oregon St. 95, Auburn 54, West Virginia 54, Texas Tech 24, Navy 19, Tennessee 12, Rutgers 11, Nebraska 9, Temple 7, Kansas St. 5, Notre Dame 3, Fresno St. 2, Mississippi 2, Troy 1.

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