Kansas Football Cracks AP Top 25 For First Time In 11 Years

Oct. 7, 2007

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – After posting a 30-24 win at then 24^th-ranked KansasState on Saturday and improving to 5-0 on the season, the University of Kansas football team found itself in the national rankings for the first time in 11 years.

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The Jayhawks enter all three current major polls -Associated Press, USA Today and Harris Interactive – ranked 20^th in the nation. The last time Kansas was listed in the AP poll was Sept. 28, 1996 when the Jayhawks were also ranked 20^th before losing 45-42 at Utah and falling out of the listings.

After cruising through four non-conference games, Kansas opened Big 12 play with a 30-24 win at KSU Saturday, its first victory against a ranked team since beating then #25 IowaState 24-21 in 2005. The win at KansasState was KU’s first road win against a ranked team since a 38-17 victory at 15^th-ranked Oklahoma in 1995.

The win was the first for an un-ranked Kansas team against a ranked opponent since beating number two Oklahoma 28-11 in 1984.

This marks the 15^th season in history in which Kansas has been ranked in the polls at least once, with the previous four seasons in the rankings coming in 1976, 1992, 1995 and 1996 before this week. Other seasons where Kansas has been in the polls included 1947, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61, 68, 73, 74, and 75.

KU spent three weeks in the top 25 in 1996 reaching the high mark of 20^th before falling at Utah. The last time KU was higher than 20^th was the final 1995 poll when the Jayhawks finished the year ninth in the AP poll after beating UCLA 51-30 in the Aloha Bowl.

Kansas hosts Baylor this week and is 44-27-2 when playing as a ranked team, including a 21-12-2 mark in home games as a top 25 team. The game will be televised by Fox College Sports Central and will kickoff at 11:30 a.m. Central time.

The Jayhawks have started 5-0 for just the second time in the last 39 years and are just one of 11 undefeated teams in the nation. Kansas has also won eight of its last nine games dating back to last season.

Associated Press Top 25
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS	LAST
1	LSU (65)	6-0	1625	1
2	California	5-0	1538	3
3	Ohio St.	6-0	1511	4
4	Boston College	6-0	1346	7
5	South Florida	5-0	1339	6
6	Oklahoma	5-1	1221	10
7	South Carolina	5-1	1183	11
8	West Virginia	5-1	1059	13
9	Oregon	4-1	1047	14
10	Southern Cal	4-1	1024	2
11	Missouri	5-0	966	17
12	Virginia Tech	5-1	910	15
13	Florida	4-2	822	9
14	Arizona St.	6-0	752	18
15	Cincinnati	6-0	705	20
16	Hawaii	6-0	634	16
17	Kentucky	5-1	612	8
18	Illinois	5-1	595	NR
19	Wisconsin	5-1	551	5
20	Kansas	5-0	336	NR
21	Florida St.	4-1	307	NR
22	Auburn	4-2	248	NR
23	Texas	4-2	136	19
24	Georgia	4-2	131	12
25	Tennessee	3-2	90	NR
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 79, Colorado 48, Purdue 48, Indiana 40, Michigan 31, Texas Tech 27, Rutgers 25, Virginia 22, Connecticut 20, Kansas St. 18, Boise St. 17, Clemson 13, Penn St. 13, Maryland 11, Alabama 9, Nebraska 9, Mississippi St. 3, Washington 2, Wyoming 2. First-place votes in parentheses USA Today Poll Rank Team (first-place votes) Record Points Last week 1. LSU (58) 6-0 1,498 2 2. California 5-0 1,416 3 3. Ohio State (2) 6-0 1,399 4 4. Boston College 6-0 1,283 6 5. (tie) Oklahoma 5-1 1,145 10 5. (tie) South Florida 5-0 1,145 9 7. Southern California 4-1 1,000 1 8. Oregon 4-1 936 13 9. West Virginia 5-1 931 12 10. Virginia Tech 5-1 913 14 11. Missouri 5-0 897 17 12. South Carolina 5-1 823 18 13. Arizona State 6-0 763 19 14. Florida 4-2 714 7 15. Wisconsin 5-1 689 5 16. Hawaii 6-0 632 15 17. Cincinnati 6-0 578 24 18. Kentucky 5-1 493 8 19. Illinois 5-1 425 NR 20. Kansas 5-0 390 NR 21. Florida State 4-1 213 NR 22. Texas 4-2 195 16 23. Georgia 4-2 188 11 24. Purdue 5-1 149 20 25. Auburn 4-2 143 NR Dropped out Dropped out: No. 21 Rutgers (3-2, lost to then-No. 24 Cincinnati 28-23), No. 22 Clemson (4-2, lost to then-No. 14 Virginia Tech 41-23), No. 23 Nebraska (4-2, lost to then-No. 17 Missouri 41-6), No. 25 UCLA (4-2, lost to Notre Dame 20-6). Others receiving votes Others receiving votes: Virginia (5-1) 67; Tennessee (3-2) 60; Texas A&M (5-1) 52; Rutgers (3-2) 44; Texas Tech (5-1) 44; Boise State (3-1) 37; Connecticut (5-0) 36; Indiana (5-1) 30; Penn State (4-2) 27; Michigan (4-2) 22; Maryland (4-2) 20; Wyoming (4-1) 18; Clemson (4-2) 16; Colorado (4-2) 15; Wake Forest (3-2) 12; Nebraska (4-2) 10; Alabama (4-2) 6; Brigham Young (3-2) 6; Mississippi State (4-2) 6; Kansas State (3-2) 5; Stanford (2-3) 4; Michigan State (4-2) 3; UCLA (4-2) 2. Harris Interactive Top 25 RANK TEAM RECORD PTS LAST 1 LSU (113) 6-0 2825 2 California 5-0 2654 3 Ohio St. 6-0 2643 4 Boston College 6-0 2406 5 Oklahoma 5-1 2218 6 South Florida 5-0 2166 7 Southern Cal 4-1 2015 8 West Virginia 5-1 1855 9 South Carolina 5-1 1809 10 Oregon 4-1 1692 11 Missouri 5-0 1610 12 Virginia Tech 5-1 1563 13 Florida 4-2 1364 14 Arizona St. 6-0 1359 15 Wisconsin 5-1 1309 16 Hawaii 6-0 1266 17 Cincinnati 6-0 1083 18 Kentucky 5-1 1034 19 Illinois 5-1 871 20 Kansas 5-0 630 21 Texas 4-2 372 22 Florida St. 4-1 344 23 Georgia 4-2 327 24 Purdue 5-1 270 25 Auburn 3-2 191