Florida Parlays Victory Into Top Spot In Rankings

Look who’s back at No. 1.

The Florida Gators, by virtue of their 33-20 victory over Tennessee, bumped Penn State out of the top spot in The Associated Press’ Top 25 college football poll.

Even though the Nittany Lions (3-0) clobbered Louisville 57-21 on the road Saturday, the defending national champion Gators (3-0) defeated a Top 5 team and received more support from the poll voters.

“I don’t know that we’re better than Penn State, or maybe even better than Nebraska. Who knows until we play each other?” Florida coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday. “But when you do beat a team that’s ranked in the top five, it does seem to help.”

Nebraska’s 27-14 victory over then-No. 2 Washington (2-1) in Seattle, didn’t hurt the Gators, either. Florida (3-0) collected 32 first-place votes and 1,699 points from the 70 sports writers and broadcasters who vote in the poll.

Penn State, which held the No. 1 spot since the preseason poll, was No. 2 with 28 first-place votes and 1,675 points. The Cornhuskers (3-0) jumped from No. 7 to No. 3 and received seven first-place votes and 1,601 points.

The Volunteers (2-1) fell five places to No. 9, while the Huskies (2-1), fell to No. 10.

In the USA Today/ESPN poll, the top 5 were: Florida, Penn State, Nebraska, Florida State and North Carolina.

Last week, Penn State had 25 first-place votes, Washington had 19, Florida 14 and Tennessee six.