Utah football breaks Top 5 in AP Poll on bye week


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SALT LAKE CITY — It was wild weekend for the Top 10 teams in the country, with nearly every team struggling to escape with a win. As a result, the Top 10 saw a major shakeup in the fifth week of play.

While sitting on the sidelines watching the madness unfold, Utah still got some help from some voters who moved Utah up to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and up to No. 7 in the Amway USA Today Coaches Poll. Utah was previously ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll.

The Utes improved their first-place votes among AP voters, garnering seven first-place votes this week. Utah previously received its first-ever first-place vote last week with one. Utah received one first-place vote in the Coaches Poll.

It is the first time since Nov. 14, 2004 (week 11) that Utah has been ranked No. 5 in the regular-season AP Poll. Utah remained No. 5 for the remainder of the 2004 season before ending the season with a No. 4 final ranking.

Utah also moved into the Top 10 of the FWAA-FWW Super 16 Rankings this week, coming in at No. 6 with four first-place votes. The FWAA-FWW Super 16 Rankings is compiled by voters of the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation. Each week, FWAA writers, College Football Hall of Famers and NFF Board Members rank the top 16 teams in the nation.

Utah was also ranked the No. 1 team in the country according to ESPN's power rankings, released Sunday. Utah was previously just inside the Top 10 last week.

Utah's rise to the top 10 has prompted ESPN's College GameDay to take notice. The weekend college football show will make its third appearance to Rice-Eccles Stadium this weekend as No. 5 Utah takes on No. 23 Cal at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

The Pac-12 continues to lead the nation with five teams ranked in the Top 25. Utah is the highest-ranked team from the conference as only one of two remaining undefeated teams after then-No. 7 UCLA fell to Arizona State Saturday. Utah is followed by Stanford (No. 16/18), USC (No. 17/17), UCLA (No. 20/20), and Cal (No. 23/22).

Although Ohio State struggled to get past Indiana on Saturday, the Buckeyes remain the favorite among voters, who keep them as the No. 1 team in the country. The Buckeyes are followed by No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Michigan State and No. 5 Utah in the AP Poll.

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Josh Furlong

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