New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Fresh off their 24-14 win over Oklahoma in the BCS national title game, it's no surprise the Florida Gators finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country in the Associated Press college
football poll.
Utah, the lone unbeaten team in Football Bowl Subdivision play at 13-0, ascended from seventh to second and received 16 first-place votes from a nationwide media panel.
The Utes, fresh off their 31-17 destruction of Alabama at the Sugar Bowl last Friday, had 1,519 points in the voting.
Several media members chose to put Utah ahead of the Gators, who earned their third national championship with their win over the Sooners on Thursday in Miami. Florida (13-1) finished with 48 first-place tallies and 1,606 points.
Florida also was easily on top of the coaches' poll, gaining 60 of a possible 61 first-place votes, with the other one going to the Utes, who finished fourth in the poll. The coaches were required to vote for the BCS champion, but Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said earlier he would vote for his team at No. 1.
The Sooners (12-2) fell three spots to fifth in the AP poll.
Southern California (12-1), by virtue of their 38-24 win over Penn State at the Rose Bowl, climbed two spots to third. The Trojans had the other first- place vote.
Despite a 24-21 win over Ohio State at the Fiesta Bowl, Texas (12-1) dropped one slot to fourth, finishing with 1,478 points, just three behind USC.
Alabama (12-2) was sixth, while TCU (11-2) moved up four spots to seventh after a 17-16 win over previously unbeaten Boise State at the Poinsettia Bowl on December 23.
Penn State (11-2) came in eighth, followed by the Buckeyes (10-3) and Oregon (10-3), which beat Oklahoma State at the Holiday Bowl.
Boise State, Texas Tech, Georgia, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech make up teams 11-15. They're followed by Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, Oregon State, Missouri and Iowa. The final five teams are Florida State, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Michigan State and BYU.
The Yellow Jackets and Cougars each fell eight spots after bowl defeats.