New Top 25 Michigan in/osu drops to 16 after upset at home

[qualified101]

The Wolverines, unranked all last season while finishing 3-9, were No. 25 in The Associated Press college football poll released Sunday.

Michigan moved into the media ranking for the first time since the end of the 2007 season after a thrilling 38-34 victory against Notre Dame on Saturday. The loss dropped the Fighting Irish out of the rankings.

Florida remained No. 1 after it’s second landslide victory. The Gators received 56 first-place votes. Texas is still No. 2, with one first-place votes.

No. 3 Southern California received a first-place vote for the first time this season after Matt Barkley and Trojans used a late-fourth quarter touchdown to rally past Ohio State 18-15 on the road.

The Buckeyes’ latest slip up on the big stage—they’ve lost six straight against top-five teams—cost them three spots in the poll. They dropped to No. 11.

No. 4 Alabama received two first-place votes. Mississippi and Penn State tied for No. 5.

Oklahoma State took the biggest dive. The Cowboys reached the top five last week for the first time in 24 years, but they were upset 45-35 at home by Case Keenum and Houston.

Oklahoma State tumbled 11 places to No. 16.

No. 21 Houston joined Michigan as newcomers to this season’s rankings, but unlike the Wolverines it’s been years since the Cougars were a Top 25 team.

Houston’s last time in the AP poll was Sept. 15, 1991. That year quarterback David Klingler and the Cougars were 1-0 and ranked 10th when they went to Miami and were blown out 40-10 by the Hurricanes. The next week Houston was No. 21 when it lost to 51-10 at Illinois.

The Cougars haven’t been a player on the national scene since.

No. 7 BYU moved up two spots and also has its best ranking in more than a decade. The Cougars from Provo, Utah, were last ranked this high when they finished the 1996 season No. 5.

California, LSU and Boise State round out the top 10.

Michigan’s victory, coming on a touchdown pass by freshman Tate Forcier with 11 seconds left, is the most significant of Rich Rodriguez’s one-plus seasons as coach. And moving into the national rankings capped a tumultuous and exhilarating three weeks in Ann Arbor for the program.

The week before Michigan opened the season with a 31-7 victory at the Big House against Western Michigan, Rodriguez was rocked by a newspaper report that anonymously quoted current and former players alleging NCAA violations by the coaching staff.

Now Michigan is back in the national rankings, a place fans of college football’s winningest program have grown accustomed to occupying, and headed for a soft spot on the schedule. The Wolverines play Eastern Michigan and Indiana at home before a trip to East Lansing for rival Michigan State on Oct. 3.

The forecast for the Wolverines is looking good. Just ask Forcier, who said this when asked if the Notre Dame victory proved that Michigan is really back as a Big Ten power: “Yeah, I really think it does.”

Ohio State starts the second 10, followed by Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and TCU.

After Oklahoma State at 16, Cincinnati is No. 17, Utah is 18th and Nebraska and Miami finish off the top 20.

Houston, the first team from Conference USA to be ranked this season, Kansas, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan are the final five.

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Mich., contributed to this report

[boilermaker]

Michigan will be moving up all year!

GO BLUE

[swbaseballfan]

wait till november

[pbuck]

GO BLUE !!!!!!!!! that was a great win Saturday over ND glad to see us back where we belong within the Top 25 !!!!!!!!

[mister b]

While Michigan is much improved and will be a Top 25 team before the dust settles on this football season, I think the National Media again gives too much credit for Notre Dame being anything more than an average D-1 college football team.

I can see Michigan getting votes for the Top 25, I am a little surprised they got enough to get in this early in the season.

The Big Ten needs UM, OSU and PSU to do well in the national media for the conference to gain back some of it's lost luster.

[Peake]

OSU and USC both looked very average this week.

[mister b]

OSU and USC both looked very average this week.

I agree.

[Orange and Brown]

I think OSU should be ranked in the 18 to 20 range. They lost to a team that gave them every chance to win the game!!!

[Speedofsand]

S.E.C. west has 3 teams in the top 10. Its like a playoff already.

[Lloyd Xmas]

OSU and USC both looked very average this week.

Great comment coming from a michigan guy. I suppose that nd and um were both world beaters. In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king.

[Mikenmike]

How can you even disagree with him though? The O$U offense has not performed well so far, and the d gave up a 87 yard game winning drive to a freshman qb and what was it 27 points to navy? O$U fans need to realize that just because you win the big10 every year means nothing besides that you are a above average team winning a average conf.

[Peake]

Ohio State fans always know what's best for the UM program.

All I heard coming into the season was how RRod was gone after this season, and we would be awful, the spread would not work, UM's recruiting is not working, etc....

Tate Forcier was made fun of several times on this site because there is no way a 6-feet, 190-lb freshmen can do anything. He is not 6'5, 235 like Pryor so he is doomed to fail.

This USC team is not half as good as any of the past 6 or so years. They ran a very vanilla offense, and I know I will get well they run a lot of play action comments, but they have more complex reads down field then one primary wideout and that is it. The OSU offense was stagnate for a good part of the game; as was USC's.

Pryor has not gotten much better as a QB----period. I wanted him just as bad as everyone else, but honestly, I am glad we have Forcier. If you watch TP run he is all down hill. He has very little lateral quickness or shiftiness. He has to get the corner, or take of straight up the middle. Very rarely do you see him change direction and stop on a dime and go. He suffers from being in a system at the moment that does not seem to fit him. I think the kid could be an All-American right now at WR.

I am a Michigan fan and I will put my knowledge of evaluation up against anyone. It has little to do with my fandom. I am more objective then 99% on this site.

Notre Dame is VERY talented. They are more talented then USC on the offensive side of the ball no doubt. Notre Dame has two wideouts that are first day picks, and offensive tackle who is a first rounder, and a much better QB at the moment. Notre Dame just can't seem to over take their own coach.