DALLAS (FWAA) The Ohio State Buckeyes, now 9-0 after after a 44-0 whipping of Minnesota, remain the top ranked team in the Football Writers Association of America's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.
Ohio State, a five-time winner of the Grantland Rice Trophy as the national champion as chosen by the FWAA, received all 16 first-place votes for the second straight week.
The Big Ten has the top two ranked teams as Michigan remained at No. 2 after holding off Northwestern, 17-3. West Virginia, at 7-0 and getting set to face fellow Big East unbeaten Louisville, moved up to No. 3 and Texas also moved up a spot with its 35-31 comeback win over Texas Tech. After having its 27-game Pac-10 winning streak snapped at Oregon State, USC dropped six spots to No. 9.
The Southeastern Conference continues to boast five of the 16 ranked teams. Florida, now at No. 5, is the highest-ranked SEC team. Auburn (No. 6), Tennessee (No. 8), Arkansas (No. 12) and LSU (No. 14) are also in the rankings.
Wisconsin replaces Clemson in the poll and is ranked No. 16. The Badgers are the third Big Ten team to appear in the FWAA rankings.
California moves up to No 10 and is the second Pac-10 team to be ranked, while Boise State keeps pace for the WAC at at No. 15.
The complete poll through games of Oct. 29 is as follows:
The Grantland Rice Trophy has been presented to the national champion in college football since 1954. Named in honor of the legendary sportswriter who passed away in 1954, the trophy was the first national championship award to be presented following college football's traditional post-season.
In 2002, the FWAA introduced the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll to determine the association's national champion. The 16 regionally-balanced voters will not present weekly rankings and will make their ballots public. For the first time, those ballots will be also posted online at grantlandrice.com, an interactive weblog.
In addition to the poll, the 16 pollsters also decide the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week. For the second straight season, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will take part in presenting the weekly honor. Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted five games that have decided the college football national championship, including two Bowl Championship Series title games. The 2007 game will be played on Jan. 1. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, along with the Tostitos BCS Championship Game, moves to the new stadium in Glendale, Ariz., this season.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, go to footballwriters.com or fiestabowl.org.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 900 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.