Florida State is No. 1 again in The Associated Press college football poll in another comeback of sorts for a team with a season full of remarkable rallies.
The Seminoles (10-0) were preseason No. 1 before being replaced by Mississippi State in October. The Bulldogs (9-1) had a run of six weeks at No. 1 stopped by a 25-20 loss at Alabama on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide moved up four spots to No. 2. The Bulldogs dropped to fourth.
The Seminoles received 43 first-place votes from the media panel. Alabama got 16 and No. 3 Oregon got one.
Florida State is the only unbeaten team remaining from the Big Five conferences after Jameis Winston and the ’Noles erased a halftime deficit for the fifth time this season in a 30-24 victory at Miami.
TCU remained fifth after a close call against Kansas. Baylor is sixth, just five points behind its Big 12 rival.
Ohio State moved up to seventh, followed by Mississippi, Georgia and Michigan State, rounding out the top 10.
The latest College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday.
Florida State becomes the first preseason No. 1 team to drop out of the top spot and regain it during the season since Penn State in 1997. The Nittany Lions slipped to No. 2 for three weeks, jumped back to No. 1 for a week in October, but finished the season ranked No. 16.
Muschamp out as Florida coach
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Will Muschamp is stepping down as Florida’s coach after the regular season, forced out after a four-year tenure that will be remembered for inept offense, conservative play-calling and nearly as many losses as wins in the Southeastern Conference.
Muschamp will coach the Gators against Eastern Kentucky and Florida State. He is 27-20, including 17-15 in conference play, in three-plus seasons at Florida.
“I’ve always said that our goal at the University of Florida is to compete for championships on a regular basis. … I will be forever grateful to Will and his staff for their unwavering commitment to the University of Florida and the mission of our athletic program,” athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a statement Sunday.
The decision came less than 24 hours after a 23-20 loss to South Carolina in overtime. It was Florida’s sixth defeat in its last eight games in Gainesville.
The last two were debacles that sealed Muschamp’s fate.
“I was given every opportunity to get it done here and I simply didn’t win enough games — that is the bottom line,” Muschamp said in a statement.
Season ends for Georgia’s Gurley
Georgia tailback Todd Gurley’s season has ended with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The school announced the injury Sunday.
Gurley ran for 138 yards and a touchdown in Georgia’s 34-7 win over then-No. 9 Auburn on Saturday night. The junior was injured with just over 5 minutes remaining on a 6-yard run.
Gurley was considered a leading Heisman Trophy candidate before receiving a four-game NCAA suspension for taking $3,000 for autographed memorabilia and other items over two years. Saturday’s game was his first back.
By wire sources
