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Football Writers Association of America Sept. 30, 2002
For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Richardson
972-713-6198

Upstart Iowa State named Team of the Week
MIAMI ASSUMES NO. 1 RANK IN GRANTLAND RICE SUPER 16 POLL

DALLAS (FWAA) – The unbeaten Miami Hurricanes are the unanimous choice for No. 1 in the FWAA/Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll. The 'Canes, winners of the 2001 Grantland Rice Trophy and riding the nation's longest winning streak at 26, earned all 16 first-place votes from the national panel.

Oklahoma, the preseason No. 1 in the poll, slipped to third in the rankings behind Miami and Texas, as the Super 16 Poll resumed for the first time since the preseason poll of Aug. 16. During the regular season, the poll will be announced each Monday through Dec. 9.

Six of the teams in the preseason poll dropped out – Colorado (6), Washington State (7), Nebraska (11), Michigan (13), Michigan State (15) and LSU (16) – to make room for upstarts Virginia Tech (4), Notre Dame (9), Kansas State (12), N.C. State (13), Iowa State (15), and USC (16).

The FWAA/Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll, which has made its debut this season, will decide the winner of the Grantland Rice Trophy, the FWAA's national championship award presented since 1954. The presentation will be made on Sat., Jan. 4 in Tempe, Ariz., following the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Click here to see how and why each pollster voted

The complete poll for the week of Sept. 30 is as follows:

  School [1st Place Votes] W-L Pts.   Next Game
1. Miami (Fla.) [16] 4-0 256   Oct. 5 vs. Connecticut
2. Texas 4-0 229   Oct. 5 vs. Oklahoma State
3. Oklahoma 4-0 220   Oct. 5 at Missouri
4. Virginia Tech 5-0 214   Oct. 10 at Boston College
5. Ohio State 5-0 188   Oct. 5 at Northwestern
6. Oregon 4-0 158   Oct. 5 at Arizona
7. Georgia 4-0 153   Oct. 5 at Alabama
8. Florida 4-1 138   Oct. 5 at Ole Miss
9. Notre Dame 4-0 130   Oct. 5 vs. Stanford
10. Tennessee 3-1 73   Oct. 5 vs. Arkansas
11. Florida State 4-1 68   Oct. 3 vs. Clemson
12. Kansas State 4-0 54   Oct. 5 at Colorado
13. N.C. State 6-0 52   Oct. 12 at North Carolina
14. Washington 3-1 50   Oct. 5 vs. California
15. Iowa State 5-1 46   Oct. 12 vs. Texas Tech
16. USC 3-1 41   Oct. 5 at Washington State
Also receiving votes: Michigan 40, Washington State 30, Wisconsin 22, Colorado State 7, Penn State 4, Air Force 1, Louisville 1.
By conference: Big 12 (4), Pac-10 (3), SEC (3); ACC (2); Big East (2); Big Ten (1); Independents (1)

Iowa State, which makes its debut in the Super 16 this week, was selected as the FWAA's National Team of the Week for the weekend of Sept. 28 after its 36-14 drubbing of Nebraska. The Cyclones dealt Nebraska its first back-to-back regular season losses since 1976 and the 22-point win was Iowa State's largest in the series since 1899.

The honor is also decided by the 16-member panel that votes in the organization's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.

Other teams drawing consideration this week included Louisville, which upset Florida State, 26-20, in a driving rainstorm in overtime; and USC, which blanked previously-unbeaten Oregon State, 22-0.

The FWAA "Team of the Week" will continue to be announced each Monday with the Super 16 Poll throughout the season.

The FWAA, in conjunction with the Charlotte Touchdown Club, also awards a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week award each week.

For further information contact Steve Richardson, Executive Director of the FWAA (972-713-6198, tiger@sportswriters.net) or Ted Gangi, FWAA webmaster (214-823-7992, webmaster@sportswriters.net).

Related Links:
FWAA to debut Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll
Grantland Rice Trophy
Grantland Rice Trophy winners

2002 FWAA/GRANTLAND RICE SUPER 16 POLLSTERS
EAST SOUTH MIDWEST WEST
Shelly Anderson
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Ron Higgins
The Commercial Appeal
Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine
Randy Holtz
Rocky Mountain News
Mark Blaudschun
Boston Globe
Stewart Mandel
cnnsi.com
Herb Gould
Chicago Sun-Times
Ted Miller
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Gregg Doyel
Charlotte Observer
Darryl Richards
foxsports.com
Vahe Gregorian
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bob Moran
East Valley Tribune
Lenn Robbins
New York Post
Joe Schad
Orlando Sentinel
Keith Whitmire
The Dallas Morning News
Jay Posner
San Diego Union-Tribune
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