Oklahoma No. 1 in AP Poll

So long, Virginia Tech. Hello, Miami. <br><br>First the Hurricanes beat the Hokies 41-21 Saturday, then they replaced them at No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday. <br><br>Virginia Tech tumbled

Monday, November 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

So long, Virginia Tech. Hello, Miami.

First the Hurricanes beat the Hokies 41-21 Saturday, then they replaced them at No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday.

Virginia Tech tumbled all the way to No. 8 in this week's poll after its first loss of the season, while Oklahoma (8-0) remained a strong No. 1 for the second week in a row after a 56-7 win over Baylor.

Miami (7-1), which has won six in a row since a 34-29 loss to Washington, became the fifth team to hold the No. 2 ranking this season. The others were Virginia Tech, Kansas State, Nebraska and Florida State.

In addition to the Hurricanes improving one spot from last week, the five teams directly below them also moved up a notch â€” Florida State to No. 3, Nebraska to No. 4, Florida to No. 5, Oregon to No. 6 and Washington to No. 7.

The state of Florida has three teams in the top five for the first time since the fourth poll of 1994, when the Gators were first, the Seminoles third and the Hurricanes fifth.

Also, TCU (7-1) lost its first game of the season â€” 27-24 to San Jose State â€” and dropped from No. 9 to No. 18.

The Sooners, the lone major college unbeaten, collected 70 of the 71 first-place votes and 1,774 points from the AP panel of sports writers and broadcasters.

Miami had 1,684 points, while Florida State (9-1), a 54-7 winner over Clemson in Bowden Bowl II, had one first-place vote and 1,633 points.

Purdue (7-2), idle on Saturday, moved up two spots to No. 9, followed by No. 10 Oregon State, a 38-32 winner over California.

Notre Dame, also idle, moved up four places to No. 11, followed by No. 12 Northwestern, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 14 Georgia, No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 16 Kansas State, No. 17 Clemson, No. 18 TCU, No. 19 Texas and No. 20 Michigan.

Clemson, ranked No. 5 three polls ago, fell No. 11 last week after a loss to Georgia Tech and dropped seven more places after Saturday's loss.

Michigan fell eight spots after a 54-51 loss to Northwestern.

South Carolina was No. 21, followed by No. 22 Auburn, No. 23 Texas A&M, No. 24 Georgia Tech and No. 25 Southern Mississippi, which dropped 12 places after a 49-28 loss to Louisville.

In the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, the top five are Oklahoma, Miami, Florida State, Florida and Nebraska.

The latest Bowl Championship Series standings, which determine the teams to play in its national title game in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3, will be released Monday.

Oklahoma was expected to remain in first place, with Florida State or Miami in second place.