Auburn, South Florida move into AP Top 25

[October 05, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Rejuvenated Auburn jumped into the AP Top 25 for the first time this season, landing at No. 17 after improving to 5-0 under new coach Gene Chizik.

One week after a bunch of upsets gave The Associated Press poll a serious shake-up, a relatively predictable weekend provided some stability -- though several teams outside the top 10 lost, dropped out of the rankings and made room for newcomers like Auburn.

No. 23 South Florida (5-0), No. 24 Missouri (4-0) and No. 25 South Carolina (4-1) also moved into The Associated Press poll Sunday. The Bulls and the Gamecocks are in for the first time this season. The Tigers were ranked for a week last month.

The top four in the media poll were unchanged. Florida is No. 1, followed by Texas, Alabama and LSU. The Gators play at LSU on Saturday.

The Gators received 54 first-place votes, Texas got one and Alabama five.

Virginia Tech moved up a spot to No. 5 and Boise State slipped one to No. 6 after a lackluster 34-16 victory against UC Davis on Saturday.

Auburn started last season in the top 10, but fell out of the rankings halfway through a disappointing 5-7 campaign, which led to the controversial ouster of coach Tommy Tuberville.

Chizik, whose hiring was greeted with skepticism by many Tigers fans after he was 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State, has Auburn 5-0 for the first time since 2006.

"Obviously we're happy to get the recognition," Chizik said Sunday. "The kids have worked really hard and the coaches have worked really hard."

Georgia is out of Top 25 for first time since Dec. 3, 2006, after losing a 20-13 thriller at home to LSU. But with Southeastern Conference rivals Auburn and South Carolina moving in, the SEC now has six teams ranked, including three of the top four for a second straight week.

The Big 12 also has six ranked teams.

California is out of the rankings for the first time this season after a second straight lopsided loss, this time to Southern California. Michigan fell out after losing its first game, 26-20 in overtime to Michigan State.

The biggest upset of the weekend came in west Texas, where Houston lost 58-41 to UTEP. The Cougars, ranked 12th last week, fell all the way out of the rankings.

The only new member of the top 10 was TCU, which moved up a spot to 10th.

Oklahoma had the biggest drop among teams still ranked, going from No. 8 to No. 19 after losing 21-20 at Miami without injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. The Sooners are the first team to be ranked with a 2-2 record since Sept. 21, 2003, when Florida was No. 25 after breaking even in its first four games.

Both the Sooners' losses have been by one point to ranked opponents and with Bradford on the sideline, albeit for only the second half in the opener against BYU.

USC remained at No. 7 this week. No. 8 Cincinnati jumped ahead of No. 9 Ohio State, putting the Bearcats ahead of the Buckeyes in the rankings for the first time in 58 years. Back on Nov. 21, 1951, Cincinnati was No. 20 and the Buckeyes were unranked.

Miami's 21-20 victory vaulted the Hurricanes six spots to No. 11 in the media poll, followed by undefeated Iowa, Oregon, Penn State and Oklahoma State.

Kansas, Auburn, BYU, Oklahoma and Mississippi round out the top 20, with Nebraska at No. 21 and Georgia Tech ranked 22nd.

[Associated Press; By RALPH D. RUSSO]

AP Sports Writer John Zenor in Montgomery, Ala., contributed to this report.

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