South Carolina Gamecocks ranked again, at 25th; it's first time since September of last year
By PAGE IVEY, Associated Press Writer Sunday, October 03, 2004COLUMBIA n South Carolina's first win in Tuscaloosa gave the Gamecocks their first Top 25 ranking of the season.
South Carolina (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) received 60 points to take the No. 25 spot in The Associated Press poll released Sunday following a 20-3 victory against Alabama (3-2, 1-2) Saturday night.
The Gamecocks were last ranked on Sept. 7, 2003, following a win against Virginia. The Gamecocks fell out the next week after a loss to Georgia.
It is the tenuous nature of the weekly rankings that makes them meaningless to South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz.
"They're going to vote again next week," Holtz said of the media poll. "You can't take it to the grocery store ... all you can do is say, 'Well, this one week, (this) is what happened.'
"I never address polls or bowls until it's over. ... If you win enough games, polls and bowls take care of themselves."
Holtz said Sunday his biggest concern is what the team does in practice next week to prepare for Mississippi.
Sophomore quarterback Syvelle Newton is the likely starter against Ole Miss, Holtz said, after senior Dondrial Pinkins aggravated his bruised right shoulder.
Holtz said Pinkins will have an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of the bruise that he first got against Georgia and that kept him out of the South Florida game. Newton had a breakout performance in that game and he and Pinkins have been sharing quarterbacking duties since.
With Pinkins sidelined against Alabama, Newton put the game away with touchdown runs of 8 and 9 yards in the third quarter. He finished the game 2-of-5 for 14 yards passing with one interception and ran 13 times for a total of 53 yards.
Other injuries from Saturday included linebacker Lance Laury with a knee sprain, defensive back Ko Simpson with a left ankle sprain and defensive lineman Darrell Shropshire with a neck sprain. All are day-to-day as far as availability, athletic department spokesman Kerry Tharp said Sunday.
The AP Top 25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 2, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Southern Cal (48) 4-0 1,604 1
2. Oklahoma (15) 4-0 1,560 2
3. Georgia (2) 4-0 1,491 3
4. Miami 4-0 1,409 4
5. Texas 4-0 1,358 5
6. Auburn 5-0 1,305 8
7. California 3-0 1,180 10
8. Florida St. 3-1 1,149 9
9. Purdue 4-0 1,047 15
10. Virginia 4-0 1,036 12
11. Utah 5-0 937 14
12. Florida 3-1 866 16
13. Minnesota 5-0 722 18
14. Michigan 4-1 666 19
15. Wisconsin 5-0 650 20
16. West Virginia 4-1 604 6
17. Tennessee 3-1 551 10
18. Ohio St. 3-1 547 7
19. Arizona St. 5-0 507 21
20. Louisville 4-0 478 22
21. Boise St. 5-0 396 23
22. Oklahoma St. 4-0 360 25
23. Maryland 3-1 263 24
24. LSU 3-2 191 13
25. South Carolina 4-1 60 n
Others receiving votes: Southern Miss. 50, N.C. State 28, Missouri 24, Fresno St. 17, Virginia Tech 17, Navy 15, Stanford 15, Texas A&M 12, Boston College 5, Notre Dame 2, Kansas St. 1, Nebraska 1, Texas Tech 1.
USA Today-ESPN poll
The top 25 teams in the USA Today-ESPN college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Oct. 2, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote, through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Southern California (46) 4-0 1,507 1
2. Oklahoma (12) 4-0 1,462 2
3. Georgia (1) 4-0 1,398 3
4. Miami (2) 4-0 1,347 4
5. Texas 4-0 1,283 5
6. Auburn 5-0 1,189 9
7. California 3-0 1,116 10
8. Florida State 3-1 1,049 11
9. Virginia 4-0 966 12
10. Purdue 4-0 952 15
11. Utah 5-0 876 14
12. Florida 3-1 731 16
13. Minnesota 5-0 684 19
14. Michigan 4-1 644 18
15. Ohio State 3-1 643 6
16. Wisconsin 5-0 597 20
17. Tennessee 3-1 519 8
18. West Virginia 4-1 497 7
19. Boise State 5-0 442 21
20. Louisville 4-0 434 22
21. Oklahoma State 4-0 353 24
22. Arizona State 5-0 314 25
23. Maryland 3-1 307 23
24. LSU 3-2 232 13
25. North Carolina State 3-1 63 Others receiving votes: Missouri 46, Virginia Tech 31, Southern Mississippi 30, Fresno State 28, South Carolina 20, Texas A&M 11, Arkansas 9, Boston College 7, Nebraska 7, Stanford 7, UCLA 6, Memphis 5, Iowa 3, Colorado 2, Navy 2, Northern Illinois 2, Kansas State 1, Northwestern 1, Notre Dame 1, Texas Tech 1.
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