Big Three Remain Unchanged

Michigan, Nebraska and Tennessee remained 1-2-3 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 college football poll Sunday, even though the Cornhuskers and Volunteers struggled in winning their weekend games.

The Wolverines (11-0), who completed their regular season last week, again received 69 first-place votes and 1,749 points from the panel of 70 sportswriters and sportscasters. Last week, Michigan had the same totals.

The Cornhuskers (11-0), with a 27-24 escape at Colorado on Friday, remained No. 2 with one first-place vote and 1,680 points.

The Volunteers (10-1), who collected 1,574 points, edged Vanderbilt, 17-10, Saturday to move into next Saturday’s SEC title game against Auburn.

With Penn State’s 49-14 loss at Michigan State on Saturday, the Nittany Lions (9-2) took the biggest tumble in the poll, dropping eight places to No. 12.

Florida State (10-1) moved up to No. 4, followed by No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 North Carolina, No. 8 Washington State, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 Kansas State.

Penn State, the preseason No. 1 pick, fell out of the top 10 for the first time since early November of last year.

Washington State (10-1), which plays Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, moved up two places to gain the highest ranking in school history. Before this year, the last time the Cougars were ranked 10th was 1958.

In the USA Today/ESPN poll, the top five teams were Michigan, Nebraska, Tennessee, Florida State and North Carolina.

Arizona State, a 28-16 loser to Arizona on Friday night, dropped five places to No. 17, while Mississippi State, which lost, 15-14, to Mississippi, fell out of the Top 25 and Michigan State (7-4) moved in.

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The Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day will match No. 21 Washington against No. 25 Michigan State.

The Huskies (7-4, 5-3), who finished fourth in the Pacific 10 Conference, accepted a bid Sunday. Michigan State (7-4, 4-4) tied for sixth in the Big Ten, but gained an invitation after defeating Penn State, 49-14, Saturday.