Hurricanes reclaim top of AP poll

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Posted 6:20AM on Tuesday, September 3, 2002

CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA - Miami reclaimed sole possession of the top spot in The Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, two days after a lopsided win over Division I-AA Florida A&M. The Hurricanes received 34 first-place votes, seven more than last week, when they were tied at No. 1 with Oklahoma. The Sooners were second with 21 first-place votes and 1,744 points, 39 less than Miami. Texas remained third, followed by Tennessee, Florida State and Florida. The Hurricanes beat Florida A&M 63-17 Saturday night, scoring touchdowns on six of their first eight possessions and then resting their starters for this week's game at Florida. ``The polls don't mean too much right now,'' Miami defensive end Matt Walters said. ``It's nice to be No. 1, but we aren't worried about that. We just want to win all of our games. We know that if we win all of our games, then we're going to be in the national championship game. ``Even if we win next week by one point and fall to No. 4, we could care less because if we win them all, everything will work out and we'll be in the big show - the Fiesta Bowl.'' The Sooners opened the season with an unimpressive first half against Tulsa on Friday. They finished with 509 yards and a 37-0 victory, but three turnovers and several dropped passes overshadowed the outcome. Michigan made the biggest strides, moving up six spots from No. 13 to No. 7, following a last-second victory over Washington. The Huskies fell from No. 11 to No. 14. Ohio State, Nebraska and Georgia rounded out the top 10. Colorado and LSU had the biggest drops, falling 10 spots each. The Buffaloes slipped to No. 17 after a 19-14 loss Saturday to in-state rival Colorado State. The Tigers slid to No. 24 following Sunday's 26-8 loss at Virginia Tech. Washington State was No. 11, followed by Virginia Tech, Oregon, Washington and Michigan State. The rest of the top 20 were Marshall, Colorado, Southern Cal, Colorado State and Texas A&M. Colorado State was one of three newcomers in the poll, joining Notre Dame and Wisconsin. North Carolina State, South Carolina, Notre Dame, LSU and Wisconsin rounded out the poll. The Fighting Irish debuted at No. 23 - returning to the rankings for the first time since last September - after a 22-0 win over defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Maryland. The Badgers were back at No. 25 after beating UNLV on Saturday. Wisconsin opened the season in the poll's final spot but dropped out after barely beating Fresno State. Penn State, Maryland and Louisville fell out of the rankings.