USC still No. 1; Auburn, Oklahoma locked in rare tie

Auburn caught Oklahoma in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, creating a tie for second place behind No. 1 Southern California.

It's the just the second tie for No. 2 in the history of the AP media poll. The other was Nov. 3, 1991, when Miami and Washington were tied behind No. 1 Florida State.

That year, the Hurricanes and Huskies eventually shared the national title. Miami finished No. 1 in the AP poll and Washington took the top spot in the coaches poll.

Auburn and Oklahoma each received 1,536 points.

The Tigers got six first-place votes and the Sooners received eight. Last week, Oklahoma led Auburn by 43 points and had 10 first- place votes to the Tigers' three.

But Auburn made a convincing case Saturday against Georgia. The Tigers beat the Bulldogs 24-6, a loss that dropped Georgia three spots to No. 11.

The Sooners beat Nebraska 30-3 on Saturday night, but it was probably their close calls the previous two weeks against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M that left the voters questioning Oklahoma's credentials.

The Sooners beat the Cowboys by three and the Aggies by seven, playing poorly on defense in each game.

Oklahoma is still No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, just two points ahead of Auburn.

The next thing to change could be the Bowl Championship Series standings, which come out today.

The polls count for two-thirds of the BCS grades. Computer rankings make up the other third.

Auburn has been third behind USC and Oklahoma in the BCS the last two weeks.

USC is still a comfortable No. 1 in the AP Top 25 with 1,608 points and 51 first-place votes.

California is No. 4 and Utah is No. 5.

The unbeaten Utes moved up two key spots from No. 7, taking advantage of a loss by previously unbeaten Wisconsin and a closer- than-expected victory by Texas over Kansas.

Utah is trying to become the first team from a non-BCS conference to earn a bid to one of the four big-money bowl games. A sixth-place finish in the BCS standings will guarantee the Utes a place in the BCS.

Wisconsin dropped five places to No. 9 and Texas remained sixth.

AP Top 25

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 13, 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. Southern Cal (51) 10-0 1,608 1

2. Auburn (6) 10-0 1,536 3

2. Oklahoma (8) 10-0 1,536 2

4. California 8-1 1,409 5

5. Utah 10-0 1,316 7

6. Texas 9-1 1,301 6

7. Michigan 9-1 1,279 9

8. Louisville 7-1 1,046 12

9. Wisconsin 9-1 1,012 4

10. Florida St. 8-2 1,004 11

11. Georgia 8-2 979 8

12. Miami 7-2 834 18

13. Boise St. 9-0 797 14

14. LSU 7-2 786 17

15. Tennessee 7-2 733 15

15. Virginia Tech 7-2 733 16

17. Iowa 8-2 626 19

18. Virginia 7-2 541 10

19. Boston College 7-2 490 21

20. Arizona St. 8-2 442 20

21. West Virginia 8-2 330 13

22. Texas A&M 7-3 274 22

23. Oklahoma St. 7-3 223 25

24. UTEP 7-2 152 23

25. Bowling Green 8-2 42 --

Others receiving votes: Pittsburgh 31, Georgia Tech 21, Florida 11, Alabama 6, Purdue 5, Texas Tech 5, Toledo 5, UCLA 4, Notre Dame 2, Southern Miss. 2, Fresno St. 1, Michigan St. 1, Navy 1, New Mexico 1.

USA Today/ESPN Top 25

The top 25 teams in the USA Today-ESPN college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 13, 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. Southern Cal (51) 10-0 1,514 1

2. Oklahoma (6) 10-0 1,435 2

3. Auburn (4) 10-0 1,433 3

4. California 8-1 1,311 6

5. Texas 9-1 1,222 7

6. Utah 10-0 1,203 8

7. Michigan 9-1 1,191 9

8. Florida State 8-2 999 12

9. Wisconsin 9-1 948 4

10. Georgia 8-2 947 5

11. Louisville 7-1 880 14

12. Boise State 9-0 827 13

13. Miami (Fla.) 7-2 774 17

14. LSU 7-2 771 15

15. Virginia Tech 7-2 688 16

16. Tennessee 7-2 580 18

17. Iowa 8-2 519 19

18. Virginia 7-2 501 11

19. Boston College 7-2 433 21

20. West Virginia 8-2 419 10

21. Arizona State 8-2 411 20

22. Texas A&M 7-3 272 23

23. Oklahoma State 7-3 229 24

24. Bowling Green 8-2 117 NR

25. Texas-El Paso 7-2 87 NR

Also receiving votes: Northern Illinois 24; Texas Tech 20; Georgia Tech 15; Fresno State 9; Purdue 9; Navy 6; UCLA 6; UAB 5; Michigan State 4; Florida 3; Pittsburgh 3; Alabama 2; Memphis 2; Miami (Ohio) 2; Southern Mississippi 2; Colorado 1; Iowa State 1.

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