Tue Sep 2 15:00:57 2008

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USC vaults Georgia for No. 1 in AP poll

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New York, NY (Sports Network) - Southern California returned to a familiar spot -- No. 1 in the Associated Press college football poll -- on Tuesday, thanks to its 52-7 thrashing of Virginia on Saturday.

The Trojans (1-0) moved up from their preseason spot of No. 3, jumping past new No. 2 Georgia (1-0) and No. 3 Ohio State (1-0), which both moved down a spot. USC narrowly took the top spot from the Bulldogs, as the Trojans received 21 first-place votes and a total of 1,539 points to 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points for Georgia.

Oklahoma (1-0), Florida (1-0), Missouri (1-0), and LSU (1-0) all received first-place votes while finishing fourth through seventh in the poll, respectively. West Virginia (1-0), Auburn (1-0) and Texas (1-0) rounded out the top-10.

Wisconsin (1-0) and Texas Tech (1-0) took the 11th and 12th slots, respectively, while Alabama (1-0) made the biggest jump, moving up from 24th to 13th after a dominating 34-10 win over Clemson. The Tigers, ranked ninth in the preseason poll, tumbled out of the top-25.

Kansas (1-0), Arizona State (1-0), BYU (1-0), South Florida (1-0), Oregon (1-0), Penn State (1-0), and Wake Forest (1-0) filled out the top-20. Fresno State (1-0) entered the poll at No. 21 after a 24-7 win over Rutgers. Utah (1-0) entered the rankings at 22nd after spoiling head coach Rich Rodriguez's Michigan debut with a 25-23 win over the Wolverines.

UCLA earned the No. 23 spot after its 27-24 overtime win over previous No. 18 Tennessee on Monday night. The Volunteers fell out of the top-25.

Illinois (0-1) was the only team to lose its opener and stay in the top-25, after dropping a 52-42 shootout to high-powered Missouri. The Fighting Illini tied for 24th with South Carolina, which moved into the rankings after 34-0 blanking of North Carolina State.

Virginia Tech (0-1) and Pittsburgh (0-1) both fell from the top-25 after disappointing opening-week losses. The Hokies fell 27-22 to East Carolina, while the Panthers dropped a 27-17 decision to Bowling Green.