Miami new No. 1 in Associated Press poll

Larry Coker has more than just his first coaching victory at Miami. He has the No. 1 team in the nation.

Following a dominating 33-7 victory over Penn State, the Hurricanes replaced the Florida Gators at No. 1 in The Associated Press media poll on Monday.

In this week's USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, released Sunday, Florida remained No. 1 and Miami No. 2.

Miami, winners of four national titles, returned to the top spot in the AP poll for the first time in nine years. The Hurricanes were No. 1 at the end of the 1992 regular season and finished No. 3 after losing to Alabama in the '93 Sugar Bowl.

While Florida also won its opener Saturday -- 49-14 against Marshall -- the Gators entered the season with a 13-point edge and 12 fewer first-place votes than the Hurricanes.

But now that both teams have played a game, the voters were more impressed with Miami's victory under the 53-year-old Coker, a head coach for the first time.

In Monday's voting by the 72 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel, Miami received 37 first-place votes and 1,737 points. Florida had 19 first-place votes and 1,721 points. The team with the most total points gets the No. 1 ranking.

Last week, Miami out-first-placed Florida 33-21, but the Gators outpointed the 'Canes 1,723-1,710. Voting in the AP poll awards teams 25 points for first place, 24 for second, 23 for third and down to 1 point for 25th place.

"It's very gratifying to be ranked No. 1 and it's good to see the respect of the national media coming off the win over Penn State," Coker said. "Obviously it speaks well for the reputation of the program and for the job the players and coaches have done here."

Fresno State (2-0), a 44-24 winner over Oregon State on Sunday night, jumped into the Top 25 for the first time since 1993 at No. 19. The Beavers tumbled from No. 10 to No. 22 after dropping their opener.

The complete poll can be found in Scoreboard on Page 2B.