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USC takes No. 2 slot, Michigan drops to No. 3 in AP poll
An impressive win over Notre Dame was enough to convince voters that the USC Trojans should be Ohio State's opponent in the national championship game -- at least for now.
The Trojans (10-1) advanced one spot to overtake Michigan in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, a day after their 44-24 victory over the Fighting Irish. USC, the sixth team to be ranked No. 2 this season behind No. 1 Ohio State, leads the Woverines by 36 points in the poll.
USC still has one regular season game remaining -- at UCLA on Saturday. With the Trojans' jump in the polls, it is likely they will assume the No. 2 spot in the all-important BCS, putting them in prime position to return to the national championship for a third straight year.
Michigan (11-1), which completed its season with a 42-39 loss to Ohio State on Nov. 18, fell to No. 3. The Wolverines (11-1) are 63 points ahead of No. 4 Florida, which beat Florida State 21-14 to improve to 11-1.
"I was pretty sure I was going to keep Michigan No. 2 until I watched USC play,'" said John Hoover of the Tulsa (Okla.) World.
"Part of the reason [the Trojans] struggled in the middle of the season and lost was because Dwayne Jarrett wasn't healthy," he said.
Ohio State (12-0) remained the unanimous No. 1 with all 65 first-place votes and 1,625 total points.
Florida (11-1) remained at No. 4 after a narrow 21-14 win at Florida State. LSU (10-2) jumped from No. 9 to No. 5 after beating Arkansas on Friday.
Louisville (10-1) checked in at No. 6, and Wisconsin (11-1) moved up to No. 7. The Razorbacks (10-2) dropped from the five spot to No. 8, tied with Oklahoma (10-2) with 1,095 total points.
Boise State (12-0), which beat Nevada 38-7 to complete an unbeaten regular season, cracked the top 10 for the second time in school history at No. 10. The Broncos were also 10th late in the 2004 season.
Auburn (10-2) is No. 11, followed by Notre Dame (10-2), which dropped six spots after losing to USC.
Rutgers (10-1) is 13th, Virginia Tech (10-2) is 14th and West Virginia (9-2) dropped eight spots to 15th after being upset 24-19 at home by South Florida.
Wake Forest (10-2), heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game to face Georgia Tech, moved up four spots to No. 16.
Texas (9-3), which lost its second consecutive game on Friday to Texas A&M, and Tennessee (9-3) are tied at No. 17. The last time the Longhorns were ranked this low was October 2003, when they were 19th.
No. 19 Nebraska (9-3) plays Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. Mountain West Conference champion BYU (10-2) was No. 20.
California (8-3) was No. 21 and Texas A&M (9-3) was back in the ranking at No. 22 after a 12-7 victory against the Longhorns.
No. 23 Georgia Tech (9-3) dropped seven spots after losing 15-12 to Georgia. No. 24 was Hawaii (10-2) and No. 25 Boston College (9-3) slipped seven spots after losing 17-14 at Miami on Thanksgiving night.
Clemson fell out of the rankings after losing to South Carolina.
Source: AP
The Trojans (10-1) advanced one spot to overtake Michigan in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, a day after their 44-24 victory over the Fighting Irish. USC, the sixth team to be ranked No. 2 this season behind No. 1 Ohio State, leads the Woverines by 36 points in the poll.
USC still has one regular season game remaining -- at UCLA on Saturday. With the Trojans' jump in the polls, it is likely they will assume the No. 2 spot in the all-important BCS, putting them in prime position to return to the national championship for a third straight year.
Michigan (11-1), which completed its season with a 42-39 loss to Ohio State on Nov. 18, fell to No. 3. The Wolverines (11-1) are 63 points ahead of No. 4 Florida, which beat Florida State 21-14 to improve to 11-1.
"I was pretty sure I was going to keep Michigan No. 2 until I watched USC play,'" said John Hoover of the Tulsa (Okla.) World.
"Part of the reason [the Trojans] struggled in the middle of the season and lost was because Dwayne Jarrett wasn't healthy," he said.
Ohio State (12-0) remained the unanimous No. 1 with all 65 first-place votes and 1,625 total points.
Florida (11-1) remained at No. 4 after a narrow 21-14 win at Florida State. LSU (10-2) jumped from No. 9 to No. 5 after beating Arkansas on Friday.
Louisville (10-1) checked in at No. 6, and Wisconsin (11-1) moved up to No. 7. The Razorbacks (10-2) dropped from the five spot to No. 8, tied with Oklahoma (10-2) with 1,095 total points.
Boise State (12-0), which beat Nevada 38-7 to complete an unbeaten regular season, cracked the top 10 for the second time in school history at No. 10. The Broncos were also 10th late in the 2004 season.
Auburn (10-2) is No. 11, followed by Notre Dame (10-2), which dropped six spots after losing to USC.
Rutgers (10-1) is 13th, Virginia Tech (10-2) is 14th and West Virginia (9-2) dropped eight spots to 15th after being upset 24-19 at home by South Florida.
Wake Forest (10-2), heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game to face Georgia Tech, moved up four spots to No. 16.
Texas (9-3), which lost its second consecutive game on Friday to Texas A&M, and Tennessee (9-3) are tied at No. 17. The last time the Longhorns were ranked this low was October 2003, when they were 19th.
No. 19 Nebraska (9-3) plays Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. Mountain West Conference champion BYU (10-2) was No. 20.
California (8-3) was No. 21 and Texas A&M (9-3) was back in the ranking at No. 22 after a 12-7 victory against the Longhorns.
No. 23 Georgia Tech (9-3) dropped seven spots after losing 15-12 to Georgia. No. 24 was Hawaii (10-2) and No. 25 Boston College (9-3) slipped seven spots after losing 17-14 at Miami on Thanksgiving night.
Clemson fell out of the rankings after losing to South Carolina.
Source: AP