AP College Football Rankings Week 1 (2010) Show Boise State with More #1 Votes, TCU in Top 5

The college football rankings for NCAA football for Week 1 saw the Top 25 shift somewhat in the Associated Press Poll from the preseason poll. Although most of the movement was expected, there were several slot changes that were somewhat unexpected, such as Florida's four-position drop and TCU's two-slot jump. Boise State's win overly favored Virginia Tech garnered the Broncos seven more first-place votes, four more than Ohio State, but their overall points kept them in the #3 position. Other teams moved up or down slightly in the Week 1 college football rankings because of the losses and poor showings, except for Alabama, Ohio State, and Boise State (numbers 1, 2, 3, respectively).

The most surprising move in the AP Top 25 college football rankings appeared in the form of the TCU Horned Frogs as they hurdled past both Florida and Texas into the #4 position. A strong showing against #24 Oregon State helped lift TCU. Mediocre performances by Texas and Florida saw Texas remain at #5 but saw Florida fall four positions to #8.

Oklahoma suffered the same fate as Florida, falling four positions to #10 after allowing Utah State to fight them to a 31-24 loss. Their arch-rival, Nebraska, moved up to #6 from #8. Oregon, who sat in at #11 in the preseason poll, jumped into the #7 position on the impetus of a 72-0 trouncing of New Mexico. Iowa remained static at #9.

A couple of big surprises came in the dropping of North Carolina and Pittsburgh from the AP Top 25 altogether. It is rare to see a team fall more than 10 positions, especially when they lose to a borderline Top 25 team, but Pittsburgh, ranked #15 going into Week 1, fell in a close game to Utah, losing in overtime 27-24. A short-handed #18 North Carolina (13 game suspensions and ineligibilities on the Week 1 roster) fell in a close game to LSU, but continuing NCAA investigations into allegations of professional agent impropriety may have influenced the vote against North Carolina, causing their drop from the AP Top 25.

Oregon State, which didn't have far to fall, dropped out as well after their loss to TCU.

Utah, on the back of their victory over #15 Pittsburgh, entered the college football rankings at #20.

Two more teams entered the Top 25: Stanford and South Carolina, #25 and #24, respectively.

Virginia Tech, which lost to Boise State in Monday night's season opener, only fell three positions (#13).

LSU, by virtue of nearly losing to a crippled North Carolina, moved up only two spots to #19.

One of the more surprising outcomes of the Week 1 vote revealed that Boise State gained a little more respect among the writers who select the Associated Press Poll. The Broncos gained seven first-place votes, giving them a total of eight. Alabama received 47 first-place votes, Ohio State received four, and Texas received one.

Week 2 of the college football rankings will possibly see considerable movement as several AP Top 25 teams play each other. The games to watch: #18 Penn State vs. #1 Alabama, #12 Miami (FL) vs. #2 Ohio State, .#7 Oregon vs. Tennessee (unranked and untested), South Florida (unranked and untested) vs. #8 Florida, Iowa State vs. #9 Iowa (rivalry), #17 Florida St. vs. #10 Oklahoma, and #22 Georgia vs. #24 South Carolina.

AP Top 25 College Football Rankings:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Boise State
4. TCU
5. Texas
6. Nebraska
7. Oregon
8. Florida
9. Iowa
10. Oklahoma
11. Wisconsin
12. Miami (FL)
13. Virginia Tech
14. Arkansas
15. Georgia Tech
16. USC
17. Florida State
18. Penn State
19. LSU
20. Utah
21. Auburn
22. Georgia
23. West Virginia
24. South Carolina
25. Stanford

******

Source:

Associated Press Top 25 Poll via ESPN.go.com