After a one-week hiatus, Florida is back in the top spot in the AP Poll, while Alabama was dropped to No. 2 again.
No. 3 Texas got seven first-place votes after its 41-7 victory at Missouri.

The last time two teams flip-flopped in the top two spots of the AP Top 25 from one week to the next was 1992, when Miami and Washington did it.

Like Texas, No. 4 Southern California, No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 6 Boise State and No. 7 Iowa held their places in the latest media rankings.

TCU jumped two spots to No. 8 after a 38-7 victory at Mountain West Conference rival BYU. LSU stayed at No. 9 and Oregon moved up two spots to No. 10.

The Ducks host USC on Saturday in a game with huge Pac-10 championship implications.

Florida began the season as an overwhelming No. 1 in the AP poll. Alabama started five and steadily gained on the Gators before finally jumping past them last week, when Florida needed a field goal in the waning seconds to beat Arkansas at home.

This is hardly surprising. The AP was looking for a reason to get the Gators back into the top spot and when ‘Bama almost lost yesterday at home to Tennessee, they got one. Florida didn’t earn many style points in Mississippi State, but the game wasn’t really in doubt like the Tide’s win against the Vols was at the end.

Either way, I think most objective college football fans would agree that neither Florida nor Alabama was very impressive yesterday.

The Gators received 48 first-place votes and 1,606 points in the poll released early Friday, after they beat Oklahoma 24-14 in the BCS national title game.

Utah, the only team in major college football to go undefeated this season, got 16 first-place votes and 1,519 points.

“I thought we had an outside chance,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said in a telephone interview with the AP. “There was enough national sentiment, I thought we might get the No. 1 slot. It wasn’t to be.”

Florida won its third AP national championship and second in the last three seasons. Steve Spurrier and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel led the Gators to the 1996 title.

No. 3 USC received one first-place vote. Texas was No. 4, and will have to settle with finishing ahead of fifth-ranked Oklahoma.

The Utes from the Mountain West Conference swept through their regular season, while Florida and Alabama from the SEC, Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and Southern California from the Pac-10, jockeyed for position in the national title chase.

The Mountain West does not have an automatic bid to the BCS — it’s not considered a strong enough league to deserve one — but the Utes earned their way in.

Utah was seventh in the final regular-season poll, but that perfect record looked much more impressive after the Utes beat Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl last week.

The Pac-10 should do the right thing and bring Utah and BYU (or TCU?) into its conference. Then they could have a conference championship game and Utah and BYU (or TCU?) could show how good they really are.

Imagine if the NFL had the same system college football has. We wouldn’t have had the opportunity to witness one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time when the Giants beat the Patriots last year, because the Giants would have been ranked No. 6 in the polls.

1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
6. Georgia
7. Texas Tech
8. Florida
9. Oklahoma State
10. Utah

Obviously the hype heading into this weekend will be about No. 1 Texas squaring off with No. 7 Texas Tech. Everyone is expecting a shootout or an upset, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Longhorns completely dismantled Tech, either. The Red Raiders haven’t played against any team with a defense yet and UT is the most complete team in college football. But it’s going to be fun playing into the excitement that builds all week.

USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll Top 10:

1. USC
2.Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Florida
5. Missouri
6. LSU
7. Texas
8. Wisconsin
9. Texas Tech
10. Alabama

Four programs dropped out of the top 25, including East Carolina (No. 17), West Virginia (No. 22), Arizona State (No. 24) and Florida State (No. 25), folloing their losses last week.

It’s nice to see Vanderbilt has finally cracked the top 25, coming in at No. 25. After ECU was beat by NC State last Saturday, maybe Vandy will now become the new Cinderella story this season.

So will UGA claim their top spot again? If the voters take the same approach as they did last week, then the Bulldogs should be No. 1 again. Technically they outperformed USC on Saturday right?

Some think I might be over blowing this situation and that Georgia falling last week despite winning isn’t a big deal. But if a program is good enough to be ranked No. 1 in preseason and they win their first game, why aren’t they good enough to be ranked No. 1 heading into Week 2? I still don’t understand it, even though I realize USC might be the better team with how young and inexperienced the Bulldogs’ offensive line is.

If UGA reclaims the top spot, then somebody needs to cue the tunes because the NCAA appears ready to play musical chairs with the polls again this year.