Texas Tech hits No. 6 in AP poll, eyes No. 1 Texas

[October 27, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Texas Tech has its highest ranking in the AP Top 25 in 32 years, and a chance to make another momentous leap coming up. The Red Raiders moved up to No. 6 in the poll released Sunday as they get ready to host No. 1 Texas.

A second consecutive weekend when highly ranked teams ruled produced little change at the top of the media rankings.

Texas is a unanimous No. 1 for the second week in a row, receiving all 65 first-place votes, and the rest of the top five remained the same: No. 2 Alabama, followed by Penn State, Oklahoma and Florida.

No. 7 Southern California slipped a spot after edging Arizona 17-10 on Saturday night. No. 8 Georgia moved up a spot heading into its huge Southeastern Conference game against East Division fival Florida.

No. 9 Oklahoma State dropped two spots after losing 28-24 in Austin to the Longhorns.

No. 10 Utah, No. 11 Boise State and No. 12 TCU all have hopes of breaking into the Bowl Championship Series from conferences without automatic bids.

The Red Raiders moved up two spots by overwhelming Kansas, 63-21 on Saturday. Texas Tech hasn't been ranked this high since Nov. 15, 1976, when coach Steve Sloan had the Red Raiders 8-0 heading into a big home game against No. 9 Houston. Texas Tech lost to Houston, 27-19, and finished that season 10-2 with a loss to Nebraska in the Bluebonnet Bowl.

For coach Mike Leach's Red Raiders, the Texas game will likely be the second of four straight against ranked teams.

Texas Tech's big win at then-No. 19 Kansas knocked the Jayhawks out of the rankings. After Texas comes to Lubbock on Saturday, the Red Raiders are home for Oklahoma State, then have a week off before playing at Oklahoma.

For the Longhorns, the Texas Tech game will be their fourth straight against a team ranked in the Top 11. The Longhorns has navigated safely through Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State in October, but those games were all at home or on a neutral field. The trip to Lubbock will be the Longhorns' toughest road test yet.

Ohio State dropped three spots to No. 13 after losing 13-6 to Penn State in a game for first-place in the Big Ten.

No. 14 is Missouri and LSU dropped four spots to No. 15 after a 52-38 loss to Georgia.

No. 16 Florida State, BYU, Ball State, Tulsa and Minnesota round out the first 20. The Golden Gophers, 7-1 after going 1-11 last season, have their highest ranking since the final poll of the 1999 season.

The final five include three teams that have yo-yoed in and out of the rankings this season.

No. 21 North Carolina and No. 22 Michigan State both dropped out last week but are back in this week.

No. 23 Oregon is back in the rankings for the third time this season and first time in a month.

No. 24 South Florida is the only Big East team left in the rankings. The Bulls dropped 10 spots after losing 24-20 at Louisville.

No. 25 Maryland is ranked for the first time since 2006.

Along with Kansas, falling out were Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Boston College.

[Associated Press; By RALPH D. RUSSO]

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