NEW YORK — Oregon leaped over Boise State and Texas Christian while Penn State, Texas and Southern California fell out of The Associated Press college football poll that was announced Sunday.
After beating Stanford 52-31 on Saturday night, the Ducks moved up a spot to No. 3 behind top-ranked Alabama and No. 2 Ohio State in the latest top 25.
Boise State, which had been No. 3 since the preseason, slipped a spot to No. 4. Texas Christian was No. 5.
Boise State remained unbeaten with a 59-0 pounding of winless league rival New Mexico State, but it appears the lack of respect for the Western Athletic Conference is hurting the Broncos.
With a nonconference game against Toledo on Saturday, followed by meetings with WAC weaklings San Jose State and Louisiana Tech, it would seem that the Broncos could be stuck at No. 4 for a while unless one of those top three teams loses or struggles mightily with a weaker opponent.
Texas dropped out of the ranking after losing a second straight game, leaving the Longhorns unranked for the first time since Oct. 15, 2000. Their 162 consecutive weeks in the rankings represented the longest active streak in the country.
Texas hasn’t lost three straight games since closing the 1999 season that way. The Longhorns have a week off before visiting Nebraska.
Ohio State now has the longest streak at 90 consecutive poll appearances.
Georgia loses linebacker
ATLANTA — Georgia coach Mark Richt said freshman linebacker T.J. Stripling will need season-ending surgery after hurting his right knee during Saturday night’s game at Colorado.
Stripling suffered the injury while covering a kickoff in the first quarter.
Richt also said sophomore cornerback Branden Smith is doubtful for this week’s game against SEC rival Tennessee after suffering a concussion in Boulder.
The Associated Press
