Tom Osborne was surprised. Steve Spurrier wasn't.
The coaches were reacting to the news Sunday that Nebraska replaced Florida as the top team in the college football polls.The Cornhuskers jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 even though Florida demolished New Mexico State 70-21 Saturday and Nebraska had the weekend off after beating West Virginia 31-0 in the Kickoff Classic on Aug. 28.
Nebraska was ahead of Florida by 27 points in The Associated Press media poll and 14 points in the USA Today-CNN coaches' poll.
"It's very early in the season and we just hope the voters know what they're voting for," Osborne said. "I was surprised we moved ahead of Florida. I thought we would still be number two."
Spurrier took the change in stride.
"It doesn't really bother us," he said. "Nebraska was very impressive last week, and it was a game that a lot of coaches and media representatives watched because there were no other games.
"Nebraska is a deserving team, as are probably several others. The voting was so close in the preseason polls that this type of flip-flopping was quite likely."
Spurrier said some voters may have thought Florida ran up the score against New Mexico State when, in fact, the Gators scored only 14 points in the second half.
Regardless, Spurrier said rankings aren't that significant right now.
"There is so much football to be played by us and others," he said. "We just have to concentrate on taking care of our business and a lot of good things will happen later in the year."
Nebraska hasn't been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll since 1987.
The Cornhuskers, who were No. 4 in the preseason poll before moving up to No. 2 last week, received 23 first-place votes and 1,465 points in the AP poll. Florida got 15 first-place votes and 1,462 points.
Notre Dame remained third after beating Northwestern 42-15 on the first full weekend of the season. The Fighting Irish received 10 first-place votes and 1,413 points.
Florida State stayed No. 4 following its 41-17 victory over Virginia. The defending national champions got eight firsts and 1,388 points.
Miami moved up one spot to No. 5 after routing Division I-AA Georgia Southern 56-0, and Michigan dropped one notch to No. 6 after struggling to beat Boston College 34-26.
Rounding out the Top 10 are Colorado, Penn State, Arizona and Wisconsin.