Ohio State, Michigan 1-2 in AP Poll

By The Associated Press

The game of the year didn't change the top of The Associated Press poll. Ohio State was No. 1 and Michigan was No. 2 in the Top 25 on Sunday.

The Big Ten rivals have held the top two spots in the media poll since Oct. 15. After the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 42-39 in Columbus on Saturday in their regular-season finale, the voters decided to keep them there.

The last 1 vs. 2 regular-season game that didn't change the top of the poll was the 1966 classic between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State, which ended in a 10-10 tie.

The last time No. 2 lost to No. 1 in the regular season and didn't drop was 1945, when Army beat No. 2 Navy 32-13.

Ohio State (12-0) moves on to play in the BCS national title game on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz. The Buckeyes have been No. 1 all season, and for the second time it was unanimous.

Michigan could still end up in the championship game, too, but that will depend on how the other contenders fare over the next two weeks.

Southern California moved up a spot to No. 3 with a 23-9 victory over California that gave the Trojans the Pac-10's BCS bid and kept them in the national title hunt. USC (9-1) is only nine points behind Michigan.

Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express News covered Michigan-Ohio State, then watched USC pull away from Cal in the second half. He had Michigan at No. 2 on his ballot this week and USC third, but it was a close call.

"It's still really fluid," he said. "For Michigan to play as well as they did in a hostile environment really impressed me."

But he said USC could win back his support by playing a big game against Notre Dame on Saturday.

"It's that close," he said.

In the USA Today coaches' poll, Ohio State was No. 1 with USC second and Michigan third.

Florida (10-1) slipped a spot to No. 4 and Arkansas (10-1) remained No. 5. The Gators and Razorbacks meet in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 2.

Notre Dame (10-1), which finishes its regular season at USC on Saturday, was No. 6.

West Virginia, Louisville, LSU and Wisconsin round out the top 10.

The only new team in the rankings was No. 25 Hawaii (9-2), in the Top 25 for the first time since the final poll of the 1992 season.

Texas led the second 10 at No. 11, followed by unbeaten Boise State, Oklahoma, Auburn and Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights fell eight spots after losing their first game, 30-11 at Cincinnati on Saturday.

No. 16 Georgia Tech was followed by Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Virginia Tech and Boston College. Tennessee was No. 19 and another ACC team, Wake Forest was 20th.

No. 21 was BYU, followed by Cal, Nebraska, Clemson and Hawaii.

Maryland fell out of the rankings after losing 38-16 to Boston College.


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