The top-ranked Miami Hurricanes can't seem to win votes, no matter how they win their games.
The Hurricanes lost ground to No. 2 Washington in The Associated Press poll after they edged Boston College 19-14 on Nov. 23. This week, Washington closed the gap even further after Miami routed San Diego State 39-12.Miami, which completed its third undefeated regular season since 1986, now leads the Huskies by 14 first-place votes (37-23) and 14 points (1,475-1,461). Last week, the Hurricanes led by 15 first-place votes and 20 points.
"We played as well as we could," Miami coach Dennis Erickson said. "We won the game convincingly, and I can't ask the players to do any more than they've done. Then it's in the hands of the people who vote, and I have no control over that."
Erickson believes that lingering anti-Miami sentiment is cropping up, judging by the narrowing gap in the AP writers poll and the tie between the Hurricanes and Huskies in this week's coaches' poll. The Hurricanes have angered opponents in the past with their showboating style, but they have tried to tone down their act this season.
"I think there is a bias, maybe subconsciously because of the reputation over the years," Erickson said. "There's a lot of people that don't like the University of Miami. We'll just keep playing and try to change the image, but perception is hard to change."
Erickson said he voted Miami No. 1 and Washington No. 2 in the coaches' poll, but admitted it is difficult to choose between two undefeated teams.
"There's two pretty good football teams that are 11-0," he said. "I can't see anybody sit there and say who's better. . . . I'm not going to stay up all night worrying about it."
Despite speculation that Miami needed to win by a large margin to stay No. 1, Erickson denied that he tried to run up the score against San Diego State by going for a two-point conversion with 6:46 left and the Hurricanes leading 37-12.
"We have a systematic chart that tells you to go for two instead of one," he said. "If I was trying to run up the score, one point wouldn't have made a difference."
"How many times have I been here the last three years and had chances to run the score up on a lot of people and never even came close?" Erickson added. "That's not my style."
If Washington beats No. 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl, Miami may need an impressive victory over No. 11 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to win its fourth national title.
"Nobody beats Nebraska decisively," Erickson said. "They're a great football team. To beat them is the bottom line for us and that's going to be tough enough."
Michigan and No. 3 Florida are the only other teams with a shot at the national title. They would battle for No. 1 if Michigan beats Washington, Miami loses to Nebraska and Florida defeats No. 18 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.
Florida (10-1) rose two places in the poll following a 14-9 victory over Florida State (10-2), which dropped two spots to fifth.
Michigan (10-1) remained fourth, while No. 6 Penn State (10-2), No. 7 Iowa (10-1) and No. 8 Alabama (10-1) also retained their previous rankings. Penn State beat Pittsburgh 32-20, Alabama downed Auburn 13-6, and Michigan and Iowa did not play.
Texas A&M (10-1) moved up one notch to No. 9 after topping Texas 31-14, and Tennessee (9-2) fell a spot to No. 10 after routing Vanderbilt 45-0.
Nebraska (9-1-1) stayed No. 11 after beating Oklahoma 19-14. The loss dropped the Sooners (8-3) one notch to No. 20.
East Carolina is 12th, followed by Clemson, California, Colorado, Syracuse, Stanford, Notre Dame, Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina State, UCLA, Tulsa, Georgia and Ohio State.