Oregon passes Boise State and Texas falls out of AP Top 25 for first time in 10 years

Oregon jumps Boise St, Texas drops out of AP poll

After running away from Stanford, Oregon jumped over Boise State and into No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday.

Meanwhile, for the first time in 10 years, Texas fell out of the Top 25. Two more traditional powers tumbled from the rankings, too, with Penn State and Southern California joining the Longhorns in the others receiving votes.

The top two spots in the rankings remained unchanged. Alabama is No. 1 and Ohio State is No. 2, just the way it’s been since the preseason.

No. 4 Boise State spent the entire first month of the season ranked third, but the Broncos couldn’t hold off the Ducks this week.

Oregon fell behind 21-3 in the first quarter against Stanford on Saturday night at home, but Darron Thomas and LaMichael James brought the Ducks zooming back for a 52-31 victory.

The Ducks lead the nation in scoring (56 points per game) and total offense (569 yards).

Stanford came into the game ranked No. 9, but fell seven spots this week.

Boise State remained unbeaten with a 59-0 victory against winless league rival New Mexico State, but it appears the lack of respect for the Western Athletic Conference is already 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 lose or struggle mightily with a weaker opponent.

The only team currently ranked on Boise State’s remaining schedule is No. 21 Nevada. The Broncos visit the Wolf Pack on Nov. 26.

Alabama received a season-high 58 first-place votes from the media panel after trouncing Florida 31-6. The Gators dropped seven spots to No. 14, their lowest ranking since they were 14th on Nov. 11, 2007.

Ohio State received one first-place vote and Boise State received the other. Oregon had 1,379 points and Boise State got 1,341.

TCU was No. 5 in the latest poll.

The top five in the USA today coaches’ poll was the same as the AP’s top five.

No. 6 Oklahoma, Nebraska, Auburn, Arizona and Utah round out the top 10 - a place where Texas has been a regular resident over the last decade under coach Mack Brown.

But the Longhorns lost their second straight game Saturday, 28-20 to Oklahoma, leaving them unranked for the first time since Oct. 15, 2000. Their streak of 162 consecutive weeks in the rankings was the longest active streak in the country.

Ohio State now has the longest streak at 90 straight poll appearances. Florida is second at 87 straight.

Texas hasn’t lost three straight games since closing the 1999 season that way. The Longhorns have a week off before visiting Nebraska.

“We have two weeks of work,” linebacker Eddie Jones said. “Work hard as a team, stay up, stay motivated and keep this heart and drive that we had today. We can go back out and win. We can change things around here.”

Penn State also lost for the second time Saturday, dropping a 24-3 decision at Iowa. The Nittany Lions fell out of the rankings for the first time since October 2007.

For USC, a last-second loss to Washington started the Trojans’ fall last season. USC even dropped out of the rankings at the end of the 2009 regular season before finishing at No. 22.

Saturday’s last-second 32-31 loss to Washington at the Los Angeles Coliseum pushed the Trojans out of the poll for the first time this season.

North Carolina State also fell out of the rankings after one week, following a 41-30 loss to Virginia Tech.

The middle of the Top 25 was Arkansas at No. 11, followed by LSU, Miami, Florida and Iowa.

Stanford was No. 16 and Michigan State, Michigan, South Carolina and Wisconsin complete the first 20.

Michigan plays at Michigan State on Saturday, with both Big Ten rivals undefeated.

South Carolina will try to stop Alabama’s 19-game winning streak in Columbia.

The four teams moving into the rankings this week, filling the final four spots, include three teams ranked for the first time in 2010.

No. 22 Oklahoma State made its season debut in the poll. No. 23 Florida State moved back into the rankings.

No. 24 was undefeated Missouri, making its 2010 poll debut, and No. 25 is Air Force.

The Falcons were ranked for the first time since October 2002.