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. Texas took the top ranking after defeating previously #1 ranked Oklahoma 45-35. Alabama moved up one spot to #2, while Missouri and LSU both dropped out of the top 10 after suffering losses. Penn State, Oklahoma, and USC now round out the top five spots.
Highlights of October 12 Harris Interactive College Football Poll
Rank |  | Team |  | Record |  | Points |  | Previous Game Oct. 11) |  | Next Game Oct. 18) |  | Previous Week's Rank |
1 | Texas (72) | 6-0 | 2804 | Beat No. 1 Oklahoma 45-35 | No. 11 Missouri | 5 | ||||||
2 | Alabama (37) | 6-0 | 2752 | Idle | Mississippi | 3 | ||||||
3 | Penn State (4) | 7-0 | 2602 | Beat No. 24 Wisconsin 48-7 | Michigan | 6 | ||||||
4 | Oklahoma | 5-1 | 2255 | Lost to No. 5 Texas 45-35 | No. 16 Kansas | 1 | ||||||
5 | USC | 4-1 | 2225 | Beat Arizona State 28-0 | at Washington State | 8 | ||||||
6 | Florida | 5-1 | 2224 | Beat No. 2 LSU 51-21 | Idle | 11 | ||||||
7 | Texas Tech | 6-0 | 2191 | Beat Nebraska 37-31 (OT) | at Texas A&M | 7 | ||||||
8 | BYU | 6-0 | 2044 | Beat New Mexico 21-3 | at TCU (Thur) | 9 | ||||||
9 | Georgia | 5-1 | 1901 | Beat Tennessee 26-14 | No. 22 Vanderbilt | 10 | ||||||
10 | Oklahoma State | 6-0 | 1829 | Beat No. 4 Missouri 28-23 | Baylor | 17 | ||||||
11 | Missouri | 5-1 | 1706 | Lost to No. 17 Oklahoma State 28-23 | at No. 1 Texas | 4 | ||||||
12 | LSU | 4-1 | 1624 | Lost to No. 11 Florida 51-21 | at South Carolina | 2 | ||||||
13 | Ohio State | 6-1 | 1589 | Beat Purdue 16-3 | at No. 18 Michigan State | 12 | ||||||
14 | Utah (1) | 7-0 | 1489 | Beat Wyoming 40-7 | Colorado State | 13 | ||||||
15 | Boise State | 5-0 | 1240 | Beat Southern Miss 24-7 | Hawaii (Fri) | 15 | ||||||
16 | Kansas | 5-1 | 1187 | Beat Colorado 30-14 | at No. 4 Oklahoma | 16 | ||||||
17 | Virginia Tech | 5-1 | 912 | Idle | at Boston College | 18 | ||||||
18 | Michigan State | 6-1 | 800 | Beat No. 23 Northwestern 37-20 | No. 13 Ohio State | 21 | ||||||
19 | South Florida | 5-1 | 640 | Idle | Syracuse | 19 | ||||||
20 | North Carolina | 5-1 | 607 | Beat Notre Dame 29-24 | at Virginia | 25 | ||||||
21 | Wake Forest | 4-1 | 569 | Beat Clemson 12-7 | at Maryland | 22 | ||||||
22 | Vanderbilt | 5-1 | 454 | Lost to Mississippi State 17-14 | at No. 9 Georgia | 14 | ||||||
23 | Ball State | 7-0 | 226 | Beat Western Kentucky 24-7 | Idle | 32 | ||||||
24 | California | 4-1 | 217 | Idle | at Arizona | 26 | ||||||
25 | Pittsburgh | 4-1 | 164 | Idle | at Navy | 33 |
Number of first place votes shown in parentheses.
Other teams receiving votes: Tulsa, 161; TCU, 141; Minnesota, 129; Florida State, 96; Georgia Tech, 87; Northwestern, 46; Boston College, 39; Oregon, 19; Auburn, 17; Fresno State, 16; South Carolina, 13; Connecticut, 11; Cincinnati, 9; Western Michigan, 7; Wisconsin, 6; Illinois, 1; Notre Dame, 1.
Dropped out of Top 25: Auburn, Northwestern, Wisconsin.
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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