Today's Harris Interactive College Football PollSM , the first for the 2008 college football season, shows the Top 25 results compiled from rankings submitted by the Harris Interactive panel of former coaches, players and administrators, and current and former members of the media. Oklahoma took the top spot, while LSU, Alabama, Missouri, and Texas round out the top five.
Highlights of September 28 Harris Interactive College Football Poll
Rank |  | Team |  | Record |  | Points |  | Previous Game Sept. 27) |  | Next Game Oct. 4) |  | Previous Week's Rank |
1 |  | Oklahoma (102) |  | 4-0 |  | 2,835 |  | Beat TCU 35-10 |  | at Baylor |  | n/a |
2 |  | LSU (3) |  | 4-0 |  | 2,637 |  | Beat Mississippi State 34-24 |  | Idle |  | n/a |
3 |  | Alabama (7) |  | 5-0 |  | 2,601 |  | Beat Georgia 41-30 |  | Kentucky |  | n/a |
4 |  | Missouri (1) |  | 4-0 |  | 2,524 |  | Idle |  | at Nebraska |  | n/a |
5 |  | Texas (1) |  | 4-0 |  | 2,455 |  | Beat Arkansas 52-10 |  | at Colorado |  | n/a |
6 |  | Penn State |  | 5-0 |  | 2,102 |  | Beat Illinois 38-24 |  | at Purdue |  | n/a |
7 |  | USC |  | 2-1 |  | 1,997 |  | Lost to Oregon State 27-21 |  | No. 21 Oregon |  | n/a |
8 |  | Texas Tech |  | 4-0 |  | 1,933 |  | Idle |  | at Kansas State |  | n/a |
9 |  | BYU |  | 4-0 |  | 1,904 |  | Idle |  | at Utah State |  | n/a |
10 |  | Georgia |  | 4-1 |  | 1,831 |  | Lost to Alabama 41-30 |  | Idle |  | n/a |
11 |  | Florida |  | 3-1 |  | 1,744 |  | Lost to Mississippi 31-30 |  | at Arkansas |  | n/a |
12 |  | South Florida |  | 5-0 |  | 1,657 |  | Beat North Carolina State 41-10 |  | Pittsburgh |  | n/a |
13 |  | Auburn |  | 4-1 |  | 1,506 |  | Beat Tennessee 14-12 |  | at No. 19 Vanderbilt |  | n/a |
14 |  | Ohio State |  | 4-1 |  | 1,482 |  | Beat Minnesota 34-21 |  | at No. 16 Wisconsin |  | n/a |
15 |  | Utah |  | 5-0 |  | 1,195 |  | Beat Weber State 37-21 |  | Oregon State |  | n/a |
16 |  | Wisconsin |  | 3-1 |  | 973 |  | Lost to Michigan 27-25 |  | No. 14 Ohio State |  | n/a |
17 |  | Kansas |  | 3-1 |  | 966 |  | Idle |  | at Iowa State |  | n/a |
18 |  | Boise State |  | 3-0 |  | 808 |  | Idle |  | Louisiana Tech |  | n/a |
19 |  | Vanderbilt |  | 4-0 |  | 704 |  | Idle |  | No. 13 Auburn |  | n/a |
20 |  | Fresno State |  | 3-1 |  | 493 |  | Beat UCLA 36-31 |  | Hawaii |  | n/a |
21 |  | Oregon |  | 4-1 |  | 476 |  | Beat Washington State 63-14 |  | at No. 7 USC |  | n/a |
22 |  | Virginia Tech |  | 4-1 |  | 350 |  | Beat Nebraska 35-30 |  | Western Kentucky |  | n/a |
23 |  | Oklahoma State |  | 4-0 |  | 299 |  | Beat Troy 55-24 |  | Texas A&M |  | n/a |
24 |  | Connecticut |  | 5-0 |  | 286 |  | Beat Louisville 26-21 |  | at North Carolina |  | n/a |
25 |  | Wake Forest |  | 3-1 |  | 223 |  | Lost to Navy 24-17 |  | Idle |  | n/a |
Number of first place votes shown in parentheses.
Other teams receiving votes: Michigan State 187; Northwestern 165; Maryland 98; TCU 77; Kentucky 73; Florida State 66; Tulsa 59; Illinois 55; Georgia Tech 43; North Carolina 41; Ball State 36; California (Cal) 31; Boston College 25; Notre Dame 18; Nebraska 16; Clemson 15; Colorado 15; East Carolina 10; Michigan 10; Mississippi 9; Oregon State 7; Arizona 6; Duke 3; West Virginia 3; Tennessee 1.
Poll Methodology and Process
The 2008 Harris Interactive College Football Poll is comprised of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former members of the media who have committed to submit rankings for the top 25 college football teams each week. These panelists were randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the 11 Division I-A Conference offices and the independent schools. The panel has been designed to be a statistically valid representation of all 11 Division I-A Conferences and independent institutions. Today, 114 poll participants submitted their top 25 college football team rankings.
The 11 Division 1-A Conference Commissioners and Notre Dame Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick decided not to accept the Harris Interactive recommendation to apply a standard statistical practice that addresses potential instability, error or bias associated with unusual ranking patterns. This process, which began in 2005, will remain the same for the 2008 season. Each week Harris Interactive will conduct a thorough verification of the results, and the rankings will stand as submitted.
This week's rankings and other information about the poll can be found at www.harrisinteractive.com/bcspoll and www.bcsfootball.org.
About Harris Interactive
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