Oklahoma drops out of AP college football poll, Stanford moves in, top 3 stays same

By RALPH D. RUSSO , Associated Press

Last update: November 9, 2009 - 6:25 AM

NEW YORK - Over the past decade, Oklahoma has rarely been out of the AP Top 25 and Stanford has rarely been in.

On Sunday, the Sooners and Cardinal sort of swapped places.

Oklahoma dropped out of the college football poll for the first time since 2005, and No. 25 Stanford moved into the rankings for the first time since 2001.

The first six spots were held by major college football's six unbeaten teams, with Florida, Texas and Alabama making up the top three for the second consecutive week. Florida received 39 first-place votes, Texas received 10 and Alabama 11.

TCU moved up two spots to No. 4, bumping No. 5 Cincinnati and No. 6 Boise State back a spot.

The Horned Frogs have their highest ranking since Oct. 15, 1956, when they were also No. 4.

The top six in the BCS standings were the same as the AP Top 25, except Alabama was second in the BCS standings and Texas was in third.

Oklahoma had managed to stay in the rankings this season while losing three close games without star quarterback Sam Bradford, but Saturday's 10-3 loss at Nebraska dropped the Sooners to 5-4 and out of the media poll.

Since 2000, the '05 season had been the only one in which Oklahoma spent any time unranked. The Sooners lost two games early and were out of the rankings from mid-September until the final poll. Oklahoma won its bowl game and finished 8-4 that season.

Notre Dame and California also dropped out after losses.

The rest of the top 10 is Georgia Tech at No. 7, followed by Pittsburgh, LSU and Ohio State.

Iowa dropped seven spots to No. 15 after losing for the first time this season, a 17-10 upset at home by Northwestern. The Hawkeyes fell out of the national championship race but are still in control of their Big Ten title hopes. Iowa and Ohio State play in Columbus on Saturday with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.

Stanford (6-3) moved into the rankings after knocking off Oregon 51-42 to become bowl eligible.

"We were confident. There was definitely no fear going into this game," Stanford running back Toby Gerhart said.

The Cardinal finished the 2001 season ranked, but haven't been since. That was also the last season Stanford played in a bowl.

Oregon fell seven spots to No. 14.

No. 24 Clemson also made it into the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Tigers (6-3) beat Florida State 40-24 to take control of the ACC's Atlantic division race.

South Florida moved back into the rankings during an off week.

Southern California starts the second 10, followed by Miami and Houston.

Utah, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Penn State and Virginia Tech are 16-20. The Nittany Lions dropped eight spots after a 24-7 loss at home to Ohio State.

Joining the three new teams in the final five were No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 22 BYU.

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