Notre Dame remained No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll today for the 12th week in a row while Fresno State dropped out of the rankings and Michigan State returned after a five-week absence.
However, Notre Dame could face its toughest game in its battle to repeat as national champion in next Saturday's visit to No. 7 Miami.The Irish, who flattened Penn State 34-23, received 57 of 60 first place votes and 1,497 of a possible 1,500 points from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters.
Colorado, a 59-11 winner over Kansas State, received the other three first-place votes and 1,439 points after completing an 11-0 regular season. The points for Notre Dame and Colorado were the same as last week.
Michigan held onto third place with 1,359 points after trouncing Minnesota 49-15, No. 4 Alabama received 1,319 points by trimming Southern Mississippi 37-14, No. 5 Florida State crushed Memphis State 57-20 and received 1,244 points, No. 6 Nebraska earned 1,200 points by downing Oklahoma 42-25 and Miami totaled 1,169 for a 42-6 rout of San Diego State.
However, Southern Cal was held to a 10-10 tie by UCLA, dropping the Trojans from eighth to 12th. Tennessee, a 33-21 winner over Mississippi, moved up from ninth to eighth with 1,065 points, idle Arkansas rose from 10th to ninth with 988 and Auburn from 11th to 10th with 925 by defeating Georgia 20-3.
The rest of the Top 25 consists of Illinois, Southern Cal, Houston, Texas A&M, Clemson, Virginia, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Brigham Young, Penn State, Duke, Hawaii and Michigan State.
Last week, it was Auburn, Illinois, Houston, Texas A&M, Clemson, Virginia, Penn State, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Texas Tech, Brigham Young, Ohio State, Fresno State, Hawaii and Duke.
Michigan State moved back in by crushing Northwestern 76-14 for its fourth consecutive victory. Previously unbeaten Fresno State lost to New Mexico 45-22 and dropped out after a two-week stay.