Notre Dame goes top 10; top Big 10 teams tumble

Notre Dame is a top-10 team for the first time in three years, and Southern California has matched Miami for the longest stay at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25.

Charlie Weis' Fighting Irish are No. 10 in the AP media poll released Sunday, jumping 10 spots after upsetting Michigan 17-10 on Saturday to improve to 2-0.

"I think too many times rankings are based off of reputation, not off what really happens," Weis said Sunday when asked if he thought he had a top-10 team. "So maybe if you go by what you see, maybe the answer is yes. I'm not there to judge that."

Weis is the first Notre Dame coach since Knute Rockne in 1918 to win his first two games on the road, helping the Fighting Irish to their highest ranking since they were seventh in late November 2002.

In 2002, Tyrone Willingham's first season as coach, Notre Dame started 8-0 and reached as high as No. 4 in the AP poll before finishing 17th in the final poll. The Fighting Irish started the 2003 season ranked 20th, but were out of the poll for good by Sept. 14. They were ranked 24th twice in 2004.

Southern California now has been No. 1 for 21 straight polls, a run that dates back to late in the 2003 season and matches the record set by Miami from 2001-2002.

No. 3 LSU moved up two spots on the strength of a dramatic 35-31 win at Arizona State. The game was moved from Baton Rouge to Tempe to accommodate the recovery efforts for Hurricane Katrina going on in Louisiana's capital city.

Virginia Tech is No. 4, the Hokies' highest ranking since Oct. 19, 2003. Tennessee will be No. 5 when it plays at No. 6 Florida next Saturday. It'll be the first time since 2002 the Vols and Gators will both be in the top 10 when they play.

No. 7 Georgia and No. 8 Florida State are followed by Ohio State and Notre Dame in the top 10.

In the USA Today coaches' poll, Southern California, Texas and LSU are the top three. Tennessee and Virginia Tech are tied for fourth and Georgia is sixth. In the AP poll, Michigan dropped 11 spots to No. 14 as the upper echelon of the Big Ten took a hit on Saturday. The Big Ten went into the weekend with three teams in the top 10, but now has one.

Ohio State fell five spots to No. 9 after losing to Texas, and Iowa tumbled 14 spots to No. 22 after a 23-3 loss to Iowa State. The Hawkeyes played most of the game without quarterback Drew Tate, who left with a concussion but is expected to be back in the lineup next week.

No. 11 Louisville is followed by Purdue and Miami. Then come Michigan and California, ahead of No. 16 Georgia Tech, Boston College, Arizona State, Texas Tech and Clemson.

Oklahoma dropped three more spots to No. 21 after struggling for three quarters to beat Tulsa. It's the Sooners' lowest ranking since they were No. 24 in October 1999. Iowa is 22nd, followed by Fresno State, Iowa State and Virginia at No. 25.

A week after jumping into the poll at No. 22 by upsetting Oklahoma, TCU is out of the rankings after SMU knocked off the Horned Frogs, 21-10.

Iowa State is the lone new team in the rankings. The Cyclones were last ranked in October 2002.

AP TOP 25 The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 10, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

AP Top 25

Record Pts Pvs

1. Southern Cal (56) 1-0 1,592 1

2. Texas (8) 2-0 1,538 2

3. LSU 1-0 1,404 5

4. Virginia Tech 2-0 1,345 7

5. Tennessee 1-0 1,297 6

6. Florida 2-0 1,242 10

7. Georgia 2-0 1,181 9

8. Florida St. 2-0 1,138 11

9. Ohio St. 1-1 1,100 4

10. Notre Dame 2-0 1,036 20

11. Louisville 1-0 941 12

12. Purdue 1-0 837 13

13. Miami 0-1 754 14

14. Michigan 1-1 740 3

15. California 2-0 634 16

16. Georgia Tech 2-0 575 17

17. Boston College 2-0 483 19

18. Arizona St. 1-1 373 15

19. Texas Tech 1-0 324 21

20. Clemson 2-0 316 25

21. Oklahoma 1-1 267 18

22. Iowa 1-1 252 8

23. Fresno St. 1-0 225 24

24. Iowa St. 2-0 223 --

25. Virginia 1-0 205 23

Others receiving votes: Alabama 137, Oregon 115, Utah 113, Wisconsin 88, Auburn 87, Colorado 62, Minnesota 41, Texas A&M 35, UCLA 24, Michigan St. 16, Penn St. 16, TCU 14, N.C. State 7, UTEP 7, Oregon St. 6, Toledo 5, West Virginia 4, Vanderbilt 1.

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