FWAA > News > Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll

Oct. 25, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: Ted Gangi
214-823-7992

Trojans widen lead in regular season's third poll

USC TOPS GRANTLAND RICE SUPER 16 POLL

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Southern California Trojans remain the top-ranked team in this week's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll. USC (7-0), the defending Football Writers Association of America national champs, garnered 10 of the 16 first-place votes after taking care of Washington, 38-0, to win their 16th straight game.

The Grantland
Rice Trophy

Oklahoma (7-0) stayed at No. 2 after its 41-10 win over Kansas. The Sooners were voted No. 1 by five of the pollsters and Auburn (7-0), for the third straight week, notched the final top vote and is third in the poll. Miami held its spot at No. 4, while Wisconsin moved ahead of Florida State as the Seminoles struggled to beat Wake Forest, 20-17, and the Badgers topped Northwestern, 24-12.

The Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll, introduced prior to the 2002 season, ranks the nation's top 16 Division I-A football teams. A regionally-balanced group of 16 selectors votes in the poll. The pollsters also select the FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week, which is also announced each Monday during the regular season.

In addition, the 16 voters representing four regions, will cast a ballot each week and give a brief synopsis of their ballot. Unlike other college football polls, the FWAA makes each of its pollster's ballot public, along with the weekly synopsis.

Boise State, after beating Fresno State, 33-16, for its national-best 18th straight win, is the only new team in the poll. The Broncos are ranked 16th and give the Western Athletic Conference a team in the rankings for the first time this season. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC each feature three teams among the Top 16.

• Click here to see how and why each pollster voted

The complete poll for Oct. 25 is as follows:

FWAA GRANTLAND RICE SUPER 16 POLL (OCT. 25, 2004)
Rank	School [1st]	W-L	Pts	Pvs	Upcoming Game
1.	USC [10]	7-0	250	1	10/30: at Washington State
2.	Oklahoma [5]	7-0	242	2	10/30: at Oklahoma State
3.	Auburn [1]	8-0	223	3	10/30: at Ole Miss
4.	Miami	6-0	212	4	10/30: at North Carolina
5.	Wisconsin	8-0	172	6	11/6: vs. Minnesota
6.	Florida State	6-1	164	5	10/30: at Maryland
7.	California	5-1	154	7	10/30: at Arizona State
8.	Utah	7-0	134	8	10/30: at San Diego State
t9.	Georgia	6-1	120	9	10/30: vs. Florida
t9.	Texas	6-1	120	10	10/30: at Colorado
11.	Tennessee	6-1	97	11	10/30: at South Carolina
12.	Michigan	7-1	87	13	10/30: vs. Michigan State
13.	Louisville	5-1	56	15	11/4: at Memphis
14.	Virginia	6-1	48	14	11/6: vs. Maryland
15.	Texas A&M	6-1	42	16	10/30: at Baylor
16.	Boise State	7-0	29	-	10/30: vs. Hawaii
FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week: Mississippi State.
First-place votes: USC 10 (Blaudschun, Coyle, Davis, Henson, Meisler, Miller, Moran, Richards, Robbins, Shain); Oklahoma 5 (Burchette, Dodd, Fiutak, Higgins, Mandel); Auburn 1 (Griffith).
Also receiving votes: West Virginia 11, Arizona State 6, Purdue 5, Oklahoma State 4.
Dropped out: Purdue (12).
By conference: ACC 3, SEC 3, Big 12 3, Big Ten 2, Pac-10 2, Conference USA 1, Mountain West 1, WAC 1.

The FWAA has presented the Grantland Rice Trophy, named in honor of the legendary sportswriter, to college football's national champion each year since 1954. This is the third season that a season-long poll will be concurrent with the award.

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).

2004 Grantland Rice Super 16 Polls (No. 1 team)
• Aug. 27 (USC) • Oct. 11 (Oklahoma, USC) • Oct. 18 (USC) • Nov. 8 (USC)	• Oct. 25 (USC) • Nov. 1 (USC) • Nov. 15 (USC) • Nov. 22 (USC)	• Nov. 29 (USC) • Dec. 6 (USC) • Jan. 5 (USC)

2004 FWAA/GRANTLAND RICE SUPER 16 POLLSTERS
EAST	SOUTH	MIDWEST	WEST
Mark Blaudschun Boston Globe	Mike Griffith Knoxville News-Sentinel	Brian Davis The Dallas Morning News	Steve Henson Los Angeles Times
Jordan Burchette CSTV \| Maxim Online	Ron Higgins The Commercial Appeal	Dennis Dodd CBS SportsLine	Natalie Meisler Denver Post
Frank Coyle MSNBC \| draftinsiders.com	Stewart Mandel si.com	Pete Fiutak College Football News	Ted Miller Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Lenn Robbins New York Post	Jeff Shain Miami Herald	Darryl Richards Freelance	Bob Moran East Valley Tribune

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