College football

UF 'moves up' in first AP poll

Unranked at the end of last season, the Gators sit among the best in the writers' preseason poll. Southern Cal is No.1.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published August 21, 2005

The Florida Gators lost five times a year ago, including their bowl game to intrastate rival Miami, and fell out of the final Associated Press Top 25. They also lost nine key starters.

Yet they've apparently gained some street cred.

The Gators are No.10 in the AP preseason poll released Saturday and one of only three teams to go from unranked in the final 2004 poll to ranked. They're one spot behind the Hurricanes and four ahead of Florida State, which at No.14 is beginning lower than it has since it was No.19 in 1985. "It's a nonfactor. It's insignificant," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "We're a team that went 7-5 last year. I don't know how people do that."

Well, Coach, might we suggest something else that's different?

You.

"No, I don't think that," he said.

But Meyer has risen meteorically in the coaching ranks, the architect of an innovative, high-powered offense that carried Utah to an undefeated season and No.4 ranking. His success led to a lucrative deal and a spot center stage at Florida in place of the underachieving Ron Zook.

"Those 18 seconds I just spent talking (about the poll) are 18 seconds I could spend talking about something good, with all due respect," he said.

Forgive Southern California coach Pete Carroll if he sees his team's position a bit differently.

The Trojans, who were No.1 in the AP's past two final polls and return Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart, Heisman finalist Reggie Bush and the bulk of their offense, are the clear favorites for an unprecedented three-peat.

They received 60 of the 65 first-place votes and are comfortably ahead of Texas (four first-place votes), Tennessee, Michigan, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech. Louisville, a Big East newcomer with USF, received the other first-place vote and is No.12.

"My statement on that is what I always say: It's a reflection of what's happened in the past and the respect that people show our program. So in that sense, it's really nice recognition," Carroll told the AP. "But it doesn't amount to much until we do something about it and prove that we're worthy of that. And it's a long ways before that."

Since 1998 and the inception of the Bowl Championship Series, the AP's Top 25 has been part of the formula used to pair the top teams in a national championship game. But the AP pulled out of the BCS after last season, so now it will crown its own champion; a champion that could be different from the BCS titlist; as was the case for the 2003 season when LSU beat Oklahoma for the BCS trophy but USC held the AP's No.1 spot.

And make no mistake, where you start is important.

Last season proved that.

USC and Oklahoma were 1-2 at the start, held those positions for nearly the entire season (Auburn jumped ahead of Oklahoma and into No.2 for one week) then met for the BCS title in the Orange Bowl. Undefeated, Auburn, which began No.17 in the AP poll, had to settle for the Sugar Bowl and thoughts of what could have been.

FSU coach Bobby Bowden prefers to look to another example.

"Ohio State, the year they won the national championship (2002), how far down were they?" he said of the Buckeyes, who were No.13 in the preseason. "So we all know it can be done.

"I like the polls. I like the early polls. Even though we're not where we'd like to be, we'd like to be at the top, it gives us something to shoot for. We've got until December to do something about that."

Times staff writer Antonya English contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 21, 2005, 00:51:14]