DALLAS (FWAA) – The Ohio State Buckeyes and
Michigan Wolverines continued to hold down the top two spots in the Football Writers Association of America's Grantland
Rice Super 16 Poll while USC vaulted to No. 3 in the wake of
losses by Louisville, Texas and Auburn.
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The
FWAA debuts the Grantland Rice
Super 16 Blog. Check out how each pollster
voted and why at
grantlandrice.com |
Ohio State, a five-time winner of the Grantland Rice Trophy as
the national champion as chosen by the FWAA, received all 16 first-place
votes. Michigan (11-0) received all 16 second-place votes as the
two prepare for their battle for the Big Ten title Saturday in
Columbus.
Although Tennessee fell from the rankings, the Southeastern Conference continues to boast
four of the 16
ranked teams. Florida, up to No. 4, is the highest-ranked SEC team.
Arkansas (No. 5), LSU (No.
10) and Auburn (No. 16) are also in the rankings.
Rutgers, one of four unbeatens after its dramatic 28-25 win
over previously unbeaten Louisville, moved from No. 12 to No. 6
and is among three Big East schools among the top nine. West
Virginia is No. 8 and Louisville is ranked ninth. Boise State,
at 10-0, moved up one spot to No. 13.
Upstart Wake Forest (9-1) moved into the rankings for the
first time at No. 14 and is the only ACC team in the poll.
Though Texas fell eight spots to No. 12 after a loss at Kansas
State, Oklahoma (8-2) joined the Longhorns in the poll at No. 15
to give the Big 12 a pair of ranked teams. California fell along
with Tennessee from the rankings.
The complete poll through games of Nov. 12 is as follows:
FWAA GRANTLAND RICE
SUPER 16 POLL (NOV. 14) |
Rk. |
School [1st] |
Conference |
W-L |
Pts. |
Pvs. |
Upcoming game |
1. |
Ohio State (16) |
Big Ten |
11-0 |
256 |
1 |
11/18 vs. No. 2 Michigan |
2. |
Michigan |
Big Ten |
11-0 |
240 |
2 |
11/18 at No. 1 Ohio State |
3. |
USC |
Pac-10 |
8-1 |
211 |
7 |
11/18 vs. California |
4. |
Florida |
SEC |
9-1 |
197 |
5 |
11/18 vs. Western Carolina |
5. |
Arkansas |
SEC |
9-1 |
183 |
10 |
11/18 at Mississippi State |
6. |
Rutgers |
Big East |
9-0 |
174 |
12 |
11/18 at Cincinnati |
7. |
Notre Dame |
Independent |
9-1 |
169 |
9 |
11/18 vs. Army |
8. |
West Virginia |
Big East |
8-1 |
114 |
11 |
11/16 at Pittsburgh |
9. |
Louisville |
Big East |
8-1 |
112 |
3 |
11/18 vs. South Florida |
10. |
LSU |
SEC |
8-2 |
109 |
13 |
11/18 vs. Ole Miss |
11. |
Wisconsin |
Big Ten |
10-1 |
108 |
15 |
11/18 vs. Buffalo |
12. |
Texas |
Big 12 |
9-2 |
90 |
4 |
11/24 vs. Texas A&M |
13. |
Boise State |
WAC |
10-0 |
65 |
14 |
11/18 vs. Utah State |
14. |
Wake Forest |
ACC |
9-1 |
60 |
- |
11/18 vs. Virginia Tech |
15. |
Oklahoma |
Big 12 |
8-2 |
34 |
- |
11/18 at Baylor |
16. |
Auburn |
SEC |
9-2 |
22 |
6 |
11/18 at Alabama |
Also receiving votes:
California (8-2) 21, BYU (8-2) 5, Georgia Tech (8-2) 4,
Boston College (8-2) 1, Tennessee (7-3) 1. |
Dropped out:
California (8), Tennessee (16). |
By conference:
SEC (4), Big East (3), Big Ten (3), Big 12 (2), ACC (1),
Independents (1), Pac-10 (1), WAC (1). |
The Grantland Rice Trophy has been presented to the national
champion in college football since 1954. Named in honor of the legendary
sportswriter who passed away in 1954, the trophy was the first national
championship award to be presented following college football's
traditional post-season.
In 2002, the FWAA introduced the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll
to determine the association's national champion. The 16 regionally-balanced
voters will not present weekly rankings and will make their ballots
public. For the first time, those ballots will be also posted online
at grantlandrice.com,
an interactive weblog.
In addition to the poll, the 16 pollsters also decide the
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week. For the second
straight season, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will take part
in presenting the weekly honor. Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl has hosted five games that have decided the college football
national championship, including two Bowl Championship Series title
games. The 2007 game will be played on Jan. 1. The Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl, along with the Tostitos BCS Championship Game, moves to the
new stadium in Glendale, Ariz., this season.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team
of the Week, go to
footballwriters.com
or fiestabowl.org.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization
founded in 1941, consists of more than 900 men and women across
North America who cover college football for a living. The membership
includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key
executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works
to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards, a
national poll and its annual All-America team.
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