Today's Harris Interactive College Football PollSM 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. The top five teams from last week all maintained their position, as Oklahoma keeps the number one ranking and LSU again edged Alabama for second place. Missouri and Texas again round out the top five.
Highlights of October 5 Harris Interactive College Football Poll
Rank |  | Team |  | Record |  | Points |  | Previous Game (weekend of Oct. 4) |  | Next Game (weekend of Oct. 11) |  | Previous Week's Rank |
1 |  | Oklahoma (106) |  | 5-0 |  | 2,837 |  | Beat Baylor 49-17 |  | No. 5 Texas |  | 1 |
2 |  | LSU (2) |  | 4-0 |  | 2,604 |  | Idle |  | at No. 11 Florida |  | 2 |
3 |  | Alabama (6) |  | 6-0 |  | 2,594 |  | Beat Kentucky 17-14 |  | Idle |  | 3 |
4 |  | Missouri |  | 5-0 |  | 2,553 |  | Beat Nebraska 52-17 |  | No. 17 Oklahoma State |  | 4 |
5 |  | Texas |  | 5-0 |  | 2,447 |  | Beat Colorado 38-14 |  | at No. 1 Oklahoma |  | 5 |
6 |  | Penn State |  | 6-0 |  | 2,210 |  | Beat Purdue 20-6 |  | at No. 24 Wisconsin |  | 6 |
7 |  | Texas Tech |  | 5-0 |  | 2,036 |  | Beat Kansas State 58-28 |  | Nebraska |  | 8 |
8 |  | USC |  | 3-1 |  | 2,025 |  | Beat No. 21 Oregon 44-10 |  | Arizona State |  | 7 |
9 |  | BYU |  | 5-0 |  | 1,964 |  | Beat Utah State 34-14 |  | New Mexico |  | 9 |
10 |  | Georgia |  | 4-1 |  | 1,803 |  | Idle |  | Tennessee |  | 10 |
11 |  | Florida |  | 4-1 |  | 1,768 |  | Beat Arkansas 38-7 |  | No. 2 LSU |  | 11 |
12 |  | Ohio State |  | 5-1 |  | 1,577 |  | Beat No. 16 Wisconsin 20-17 |  | Purdue |  | 14 |
13 |  | Utah |  | 6-0 |  | 1,416 |  | Beat Oregon State 31-28 |  | at Wyoming |  | 15 |
14 |  | Vanderbilt |  | 5-0 |  | 1,327 |  | Beat No. 13 Auburn 14-13 |  | at Mississippi State |  | 19 |
15 |  | Boise State |  | 4-0 |  | 1,177 |  | Beat Louisiana Tech 38-3 |  | Southern Miss |  | 18 |
16 |  | Kansas |  | 4-1 |  | 1,157 |  | Beat Iowa State 35-33 |  | Colorado |  | 17 |
17 |  | Oklahoma State |  | 5-0 |  | 964 |  | Beat Texas A&M 56-28 |  | at No. 4 Missouri |  | 23 |
18 |  | Virginia Tech |  | 5-1 |  | 802 |  | Beat Western Kentucky 27-13 |  | Idle |  | 22 |
19 |  | South Florida |  | 5-1 |  | 593 |  | Lost to Pittsburgh 26-21 |  | Idle |  | 12 |
20 |  | Auburn |  | 4-2 |  | 456 |  | Lost to No. 19 Vanderbilt 14-13 |  | Arkansas |  | 13 |
21 |  | Michigan State |  | 5-1 |  | 424 |  | Beat Iowa 16-13 |  | at No. 23 Northwestern |  | n/a |
22 |  | Wake Forest |  | 3-1 |  | 351 |  | Idle |  | Clemson (Thur) |  | 25 |
23 |  | Northwestern |  | 5-0 |  | 268 |  | Idle |  | No. 21 Michigan State |  | n/a |
24 |  | Wisconsin |  | 3-2 |  | 233 |  | Lost to No. 14 Ohio State 20-17 |  | No. 6 Penn State |  | 16 |
25 |  | North Carolina |  | 4-1 |  | 194 |  | Beat Connecticut 38-12 |  | Notre Dame |  | n/a |
Number of first place votes shown in parentheses.
Other teams receiving votes: California (Cal) 169; Tulsa 143; TCU 139; Georgia Tech 126; Florida State 119; Illinois 108; Ball State 85; Pittsburgh (Pitt) 74; Kentucky 61; Oregon 51; Notre Dame 40; Boston College 38; Fresno State 36; Connecticut 29; Arizona 25; Minnesota 11; Maryland 10; West Virginia 3; Mississippi 2; UCLA 1.
Dropped out of Top 25: Fresno State; Oregon, Connecticut.
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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