ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 21, 1996 TAG: 9610220027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Notre Dame and Penn State fell from the Top 10 and Miami nearly dropped out of The Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll.
While the top seven teams remained unchanged, Florida, with a 51-10 rout of Auburn, strengthened its hold on No.1 on Sunday.
The Gators received 57 first-place votes and 1,664 points from the 67 sports writers and broadcasters who vote in the AP poll. Last week, Florida (7-0) had 54 first-place votes.
Ohio State (6-0), a 42-14 winner over Purdue, was second with four first-place votes and 1,574 points to maintain a slim lead over No.3 Florida State. The Seminoles (5-0), who did not play Saturday, had five first-place votes and 1,572 points - one point closer to the Buckeyes than they were last week. (Associated Press and USA Today/CNN polls in Scoreboard. B5)
Arizona State (7-0), with a pulsating 48-35 win over Southern California in two overtimes, was fourth with one first-place vote and 1,476 points. Nebraska, a 24-10 winner over Texas Tech, was fifth, followed by Tennessee, Alabama, Colorado, North Carolina and Michigan.
The Irish (4-2), ranked eighth last week, dropped to No.19 after a 20-17 overtime loss to Air Force at South Bend, Ind. The Nittany Lions (6-2), a Top 10 team in every regular-season poll this season, lost 21-20 to Iowa at State College, Pa., and fell from No.10 to No.17. Miami, beaten by East Carolina 31-6 at the Orange Bowl, tumbled from No.12 to No.25.
Northwestern (6-1), with another last-minute win, this time 34-30 against Wisconsin, moved up three places to No.11, followed by West Virginia, LSU, Virginia, Brigham Young, Kansas State, Penn State, Wyoming, Notre Dame and Iowa.
Utah was 21st, followed by Auburn, Washington, Southern Mississippi and Miami.
Southern Mississippi (6-1), which beat Memphis 16-0, moved into the Top 25 for the first time since Dec.2, 1990, while Iowa (6-1) returned for the first time since Sept.15. Iowa plays Ohio State on Saturday in Iowa City.
California, 21-18 losers to Washington State, lost for the first time after five wins and fell out of the poll after a No.19 ranking last week. Georgia Tech, ranked 22nd last week, also dropped out after a 28-25 loss to Clemson.
There are seven undefeated teams in the Top 25: Florida, Ohio State, Florida State, Arizona State, Alabama, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The three service academies - Army (6-0), Navy (4-1) and Air Force (4-2) - received votes for the Top 25 but did not qualify.
Saturday's games
No.18 Brigham Young 55, Tulsa 30: Steve Sarkisian threw for 329 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Cougars (7-1, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) past the Golden Hurricane (3-3, 1-2) in Tulsa, Okla.
Washington State 21, No.19 California 18: Duane Stewart recovered Pat Barnes' goal-line fumble with 71 seconds to play, and the Cougars (5-2, 3-1) held on to beat the Golden Bears (5-1, 2-1) in a Pacific-10 Conference game in Pullman, Wash.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB