CHS_Grad '85
01-05-2006, 02:30 PM
Texas on top in the end
Associated Press
Posted: 10 hours ago
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - All season long, the No. 1 ranking belonged to Southern California - before Texas swiped it away at the end.
The Longhorns finished first, a unanimous choice, in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 1969 after beating the Trojans 41-38 in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.
Not only did Texas end USC's 34-game winning streak, the Longhorns snapped USC's record string of 33 consecutive polls as No. 1.
Texas opened the season No. 2 behind USC and coach Mack Brown and his players never grumbled about being stuck behind the two-time defending national champions.
The Longhorns were fine with waiting for a chance to prove they were the best on the field - and they did.
Vince Young ran and passed for 467 yards and scrambled 8 yards for the winning score with 19 seconds left for Texas (13-0).
"It's incredible," Texas tackle Justine Blalock said. "It's been a long time coming for the state of Texas."
The Longhorns received all 65 first-place votes.
USC was second, ahead of Joe Paterno and Penn State, which had its highest final ranking since finishing No. 2 in 1994.
Ohio State was fourth, and West Virginia finished fifth.
LSU, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Notre Dame and Georgia rounded out the top 10.
It's been more than a decade since Notre Dame finished a season ranked this high. Behind coach Charlie Weis the Irish have their best ranking in the final poll since 1993, when they finished No. 2 behind Florida State.
The last time the Crimson Tide were a top-10 team at the end of the season was 1999.
No. 11 TCU (11-1) just missed the Top 10, but still grabbed its best final ranking since 1959, when the Horned Frogs were seventh.
Urban Meyer ended his first season at Florida with the Gators ranked 12th, tied with Oregon for that spot.
Auburn was 14th and Wisconsin 15th in coach Barry Alvarez's final season.
The Southeastern Conference had five teams in the top 15.
UCLA was No. 16, followed by Miami, Boston College, Louisville and Texas Tech.
The final five were Clemson, Oklahoma - which finally got back in the rankings after falling out in September - Florida State, Nebraska and California.
The Cornhuskers haven't been ranked since the end of the 2003 season.
Nebraska beat Michigan won a wild Alamo Bowl, 32-28, to knock the Wolverines from the rankings.
Michigan didn't make the final AP poll for the first time since the 1984.
Associated Press
Posted: 10 hours ago
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - All season long, the No. 1 ranking belonged to Southern California - before Texas swiped it away at the end.
The Longhorns finished first, a unanimous choice, in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 1969 after beating the Trojans 41-38 in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.
Not only did Texas end USC's 34-game winning streak, the Longhorns snapped USC's record string of 33 consecutive polls as No. 1.
Texas opened the season No. 2 behind USC and coach Mack Brown and his players never grumbled about being stuck behind the two-time defending national champions.
The Longhorns were fine with waiting for a chance to prove they were the best on the field - and they did.
Vince Young ran and passed for 467 yards and scrambled 8 yards for the winning score with 19 seconds left for Texas (13-0).
"It's incredible," Texas tackle Justine Blalock said. "It's been a long time coming for the state of Texas."
The Longhorns received all 65 first-place votes.
USC was second, ahead of Joe Paterno and Penn State, which had its highest final ranking since finishing No. 2 in 1994.
Ohio State was fourth, and West Virginia finished fifth.
LSU, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Notre Dame and Georgia rounded out the top 10.
It's been more than a decade since Notre Dame finished a season ranked this high. Behind coach Charlie Weis the Irish have their best ranking in the final poll since 1993, when they finished No. 2 behind Florida State.
The last time the Crimson Tide were a top-10 team at the end of the season was 1999.
No. 11 TCU (11-1) just missed the Top 10, but still grabbed its best final ranking since 1959, when the Horned Frogs were seventh.
Urban Meyer ended his first season at Florida with the Gators ranked 12th, tied with Oregon for that spot.
Auburn was 14th and Wisconsin 15th in coach Barry Alvarez's final season.
The Southeastern Conference had five teams in the top 15.
UCLA was No. 16, followed by Miami, Boston College, Louisville and Texas Tech.
The final five were Clemson, Oklahoma - which finally got back in the rankings after falling out in September - Florida State, Nebraska and California.
The Cornhuskers haven't been ranked since the end of the 2003 season.
Nebraska beat Michigan won a wild Alamo Bowl, 32-28, to knock the Wolverines from the rankings.
Michigan didn't make the final AP poll for the first time since the 1984.