By Fitzgerald Cecilio

With 59 first-place votes, Alabama kept its unanimous No. 1 ranking in the USA Today coaches' poll while the battle for second place got interesting with the Florida Gators slowly closing in on the Oregon Ducks.

The Ducks (7-0) remained at No. 2 with 50 of 59 second-place votes for 1403 points while the Will Muschamp-coached Gators climbed one spot to third after receiving eight of the remaining second-place votes for 1329 points.

Oregon struggled before scoring a 43-21 victory over then No. 24 Arizona State while the Gators (7-0) manhandled former No. 8 South Carolina, 44-11, last week. The Crimson Tide (7-0), for their part, were impressive in their 44-13 victory over Tennessee.

The Gators overtook Kansas State by three points for the No. 3 slot despite the latter's dominant 55-14 win over then-No.15 West Virginia.

Notre Dame (7-0) stayed at No. 5 despite a close 17-14 victory over Brigham Young, heading into next week's prime-time showdown against No. 7 Oklahoma (5-1).

LSU (6-1) remained No. 6, Southern California (6-1) moved up a slot to No. 8, unbeaten Oregon State (6-0) vaulted into No. 9 spot ahead of No. 10 Florida State (7-1).

Ohio made its first appearance in the coaches' poll at No. 23 since USA Today Sports took over its administration in 1991. The Bobcats had the weekend off but climbed into the rankings thanks to their 7-0 start.

The Bobcats also became the first Mid-American Conference team to crack the top 25 since November 2010 when Northern Illinois was ranked. Also returning to the poll this week were No. 24 Texas and No. 25 Wisconsin.

South Carolina fell eight places to No. 16 and West Virginia tumbled to No. 22 while Arizona State, Cincinnati and TCU dropped out of the ranking.

 

 

Alabama No. 1 in Coaches' Poll, Florida Closes in on No. 2