Vandy makes first poll appearance in 24 years

NEW YORK — The Southeastern Conference needs to find another pushover.

Vanderbilt, for years the weakest team in college football's toughest league, moved into the AP Top 25 on Sunday for the first time in 24 years.

The unbeaten Commodores are No. 21 in the latest rankings.

At the top of The Associated Press media poll, little changed after No. 1 Southern California and No. 2 Oklahoma had the week off.

No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Florida held their spots and LSU moved up one place after a 26-21 victory at Auburn, giving the SEC three teams in the top five.

Last week the SEC became the first league to have five teams in the AP top 10, but Auburn dropped five spots from No. 10 to 15th this week, leaving the SEC with four in the top 10, including No. 8 Alabama.

The Big 12 also has four top-10 teams with Oklahoma joined by No. 6 Missouri, No. 7 Texas and No. 10 Texas Tech.

But with Vanderbilt entering the rankings, the SEC still leads all conferences with six ranked teams.

Wisconsin is No. 9.

Vanderbilt improved to 4-0 for the second time in four seasons, with a 23-17 win at Mississippi on Saturday.

— AP