DALLAS (FWAA) The Ohio State Buckeyes, now 10-0 after holding on for a 17-10 win over Illinois, remain the top ranked team in the Football Writers Association of America's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.
Ohio State, a five-time winner of the Grantland Rice Trophy as the national champion as chosen by the FWAA, received 15 of the 16 first-place votes. Louisville, after its 44-34 win over previously unbeaten West Virginia, picked up the other first-place vote and moved up to No. 3 in the poll.
The Big Ten continues to have the top two ranked teams as Michigan remained at No. 2 after holding off pesky Ball State, 34-26. Texas kept pace at No. 4 with a 36-10 romp over Oklahoma State.
The Southeastern Conference continues to boast five of the 16 ranked teams. Florida, still at No. 5, is the highest-ranked SEC team. Auburn (No. 6), Arkansas (No. 10) and LSU (No. 13) and Tennessee (No. 16) are also in the rankings.
West Virginia, among three Big East schools in the Super 16, fell to No. 11 as USC, California, Notre Dame and Arkansas each moved up two spots.
No teams were dropped from the rankings this week, but Tennessee's loss to LSU moved the Vols down from No. 8 to No. 16 and LSU moved up one spot to No. 13.
The complete poll through games of Nov. 5 is as follows:
The Grantland Rice Trophy has been presented to the national champion in college football since 1954. Named in honor of the legendary sportswriter who passed away in 1954, the trophy was the first national championship award to be presented following college football's traditional post-season.
In 2002, the FWAA introduced the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll to determine the association's national champion. The 16 regionally-balanced voters will not present weekly rankings and will make their ballots public. For the first time, those ballots will be also posted online at grantlandrice.com, an interactive weblog.
In addition to the poll, the 16 pollsters also decide the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week. For the second straight season, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will take part in presenting the weekly honor. Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted five games that have decided the college football national championship, including two Bowl Championship Series title games. The 2007 game will be played on Jan. 1. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, along with the Tostitos BCS Championship Game, moves to the new stadium in Glendale, Ariz., this season.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, go to footballwriters.com or fiestabowl.org.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 900 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.