Cincinnati vaults Ohio State in AP poll
10/5/2009NEW YORK - For the first time in 58 years, Cincinnati has jumped Ohio State in the Associated Press top 25 poll.
The Bearcats were voted No. 8 in the latest poll released yesterday after a win over Miami (Ohio). Back on Nov. 21, 1951, Cincinnati was ranked No. 20 and the Buckeyes were unranked.
Rejuvenated Auburn jumped into the top 25 for the first time this season, landing at No. 17 after improving to 5-0 under new coach Gene Chizik.
One week after a bunch of upsets gave the AP poll a serious shake-up, a relatively predictable weekend provided some stability - though several teams outside the top 10 lost, dropped out of the rankings and made room for newcomers.
No. 23 South Florida (5-0), No. 24 Missouri (4-0) and No. 25 South Carolina (4-1) also moved into the poll. The Bulls and the Gamecocks are in for the first time this season. The Tigers were ranked for a week last month.
The top four in the media poll were unchanged. Florida is No. 1, followed by Texas, Alabama and LSU.
The Gators received 54 first-place votes, Texas got one and Alabama five.
Virginia Tech moved up a spot to No. 5 and Boise State slipped one to No. 6 after a lackluster 34-16 victory against UC Davis.
Georgia is out of Top 25 for first time since Dec. 3, 2006, after losing a 20-13 thriller at home to LSU.
California is out of the rankings for the first time this season after a second straight lopsided loss, this time to Southern California. Michigan fell out after losing its first game, 26-20 in overtime to Michigan State.
The biggest upset of the weekend came in west Texas, where Houston lost 58-41 to UTEP. The Cougars, ranked 12th last week, fell all the way out of the rankings.
The only new member of the top 10 was TCU, which moved up a spot to 10th.
Oklahoma had the biggest drop among teams still ranked, going from No. 8 to No. 19 after losing 21-20 at Miami without injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. The Sooners are the first team to be ranked with a 2-2 record since Sept. 21, 2003, when Florida was No. 25 after breaking even in its first four games.
USC remained at No. 7 this week. Miami's victory vaulted the Hurricanes six spots to No. 11 in the media poll, followed by undefeated Iowa, Oregon, Penn State and Oklahoma State.
Kansas, Auburn, BYU, Oklahoma and Mississippi round out the top 20, with Nebraska at No. 21 and Georgia Tech ranked 22nd.