Notre Dame Still 1, Miami Right Behind : Cornhuskers Third in AP Poll, USC 11; UCLA, Oregon, Ohio State Out of Top 25

L.A. Times Archives

Sept. 25, 1989 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

For the third straight week, Notre Dame is No. 1 in the Associated Press college football poll, and Miami, Fla., is hanging tough right behind.

And for the second straight week, the Top Ten remains virtually unchanged, with the exception of Pittsburgh joining the elite group.

After their 21-13 victory over Michigan State on Saturday, the Fighting Irish received 57 of the 60 first-place votes for 1,497 points from the AP board, the same total they received the previous week.

Miami, a 38-7 winner over Missouri, recorded 1,432 points this time to shave eight points off the Notre Dame lead. As in the previous week, the Hurricane received the other three first-place votes.

After that, it was Nebraska in the third spot with 1,315 points following a 48-0 pounding of Minnesota and Auburn, which was idle, No. 4 with 1,284.

Colorado didn’t play but moved up a spot to No. 5, replacing Michigan. The Wolverines, who needed a last-second field goal to beat UCLA, fell one spot to No. 6.

Others Ranked

Clemson, Arkansas and West Virginia remained Nos. 7, 8 and 9 after weekend successes. Clemson beat Maryland 31-7; Arkansas beat Mississippi 24-17, and West Virginia stopped Louisville 30-21.

Pitt replaced Syracuse as the No. 10 team after a 30-23 victory over the Orangemen, making a jump of three places.

The loss dropped Syracuse eight spots to No. 18, but it wasn’t the biggest drop among the ranked teams. Washington plunged 10 places to No. 21 after a 20-17 loss to Arizona.

The voting by a panel of the nation’s sports writers and broadcasters resulted in three new teams in the rankings: No. 23 Georgia, No. 24 Air Force and No. 25 Florida State.

The Top 25 dropouts included Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State.

The rest of the Top 25 were No. 11, USC; No. 12, Tennessee; No. 13, Alabama; No. 14, Houston; No. 15, North Carolina State; No. 16, Oklahoma; No. 17, Arizona; No. 19, Washington State; No. 20, Illinois; and No. 22, Texas A&M.;

Arizona made the biggest jump, moving up six places.

THE TOP 25

The top 25 teams in the AP college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses.

1. Notre Dame (57) 3-0-0

2. Miami, Fla. (3) 3-0-0

3. Nebraska 3-0-0

4. Auburn 2-0-0

5. Colorado 3-0-0

6. Michigan 1-1-0

7. Clemson 4-0-0

8. Arkansas 2-0-0

9. West Virginia 4-0-0