Still No. 2, Miami Gets Top Votes

Don't look back Oklahoma, Miami is gaining on you. <br><br>The unbeaten Sooners maintained the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 Sunday, but No. 2 Miami made a move upward by taking away

Monday, November 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Don't look back Oklahoma, Miami is gaining on you.

The unbeaten Sooners maintained the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 Sunday, but No. 2 Miami made a move upward by taking away a half-dozen first-place votes from Oklahoma.

The Hurricanes (10-1) completed their regular season with a 52-6 rout of Boston College (6-5), while the Sooners hung on for a 12-7 win over Oklahoma State (3-8) on Saturday.

In addition to moving closer to Oklahoma (11-0), Miami strengthened its lead over No. 3 Florida State (11-1) in balloting by the 71 sports writer and broadcasters on the AP panel.

Oklahoma received 64 first-place votes and 1,765 points, with Miami collecting six first-place votes and 1,696 points. Florida State, which completed its season last week, had one first-place vote and 1,640 points. The Sooners finish out next Saturday against Kansas State in the Big 12 title game.

For the past three polls, the Sooners had 70 first-place votes, the Seminoles one and the Hurricanes none. This is the first time this season Miami has received votes for No. 1. Miami now trails Oklahoma by 69 points and leads Florida State by 56; last week the Hurricanes trailed the Sooners by 93 points and led the Seminoles by 36.

In the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, the top three were Oklahoma, Miami and Florida State.

Miami's move in the AP poll is significant since it sets up the possibility of split national champions. If the Hurricanes fail to get into the Bowl Championship Series' title game â€” the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3. â€” they can still become national champions in the AP media poll, in which sports writers and broadcasters vote independently of the BCS. The coaches' poll automatically crowns the winner of the Orange Bowl.

Currently, Oklahoma and Florida State are 1-2 in the BCS standings, which uses the AP media poll and the coaches poll, eight computer rankings and schedule strength to determine who plays in its title game. Miami was third and expected to remain there when the updated BCS standings are released Monday.

Three teams cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time this season â€” No. 22 Louisville (9-2), No. 23 Colorado State (9-2) and No. 25 Toledo (10-1).

Washington (10-1) remained No. 4, followed by No. 5 Oregon State, No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Kansas State, No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Nebraska. The Huskers (9-2) dropped a spot after a last-second 34-32 win against Colorado.

Notre Dame (9-2), despite a 38-21 win over USC, remained No. 11, followed by No. 12 Texas, No. 13 TCU, No. 14 Purdue, No. 15 Clemson, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Georgia Tech, No. 18 Auburn, No. 19 Northwestern and No. 20 Ohio State.

Tennessee was No. 21, followed by Louisville, Colorado State, Georgia and Toledo.

Texas A&M, Mississippi State and LSU dropped out of the Top 25.

The last regular-season AP poll will be released next Sunday, as will the final BCS standings. The final AP poll will be released Jan. 4.