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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nittany Lions No. 1 In Ap Poll For The First Time, Penn State Deemed Best At Start Of Season

Associated Press

Joe Paterno and his Big Ten coaching colleagues can stop growling about being shortchanged in the polls: Penn State will start the season as the No. 1 team in college football.

For the first time in school history, the Nittany Lions received top billing in The Associated Press preseason poll. Since the AP preseason poll began in 1950, the highest ranking Penn State could muster was No. 3 - in 1969 and 1978.

“It will be great for the fans and I think the kids will enjoy it, too,” Paterno said. “Of course, it’s a good-news, bad-news thing. It’s nice to be recognized, but it sets you up like a sitting duck. I hope we are prepared to handle it.”

The Big Ten, without a national title since Ohio State won it in 1968, has complained in recent years that voters tend to overlook the strength of the conference when ranking teams. In 1994, for example, Penn State went 12-0 but still finished No. 2, 41 first-place votes behind Nebraska.

Penn State received 21 first-place votes and 1,566 points from the 70 sports writers and broadcasters who vote in the poll, edging No. 2 Florida, the defending national champions, by 18 points.

The Gators, who beat Florida State 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl to win their first title last season, collected 12 first-place votes and 1,548 points.

Florida State, with seven first-place votes and 1,507 points, is third, followed by Washington (10 first-place votes, 1,484 points) and Peyton Manning-led Tennessee (eight first-place votes, 1,480 points). Nebraska, North Carolina, Colorado, Ohio State and LSU round out the top 10.

In the USA/ESPN coaches poll, Florida was No. 1, followed by Penn State, Washington, Florida State, Tennessee, Nebraska, Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio State and Texas.

xxxx THE RANKINGS The top 25 teams in The Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 1996 records, total points based on 25 points for a first place vote through one point for a 25th place vote and ranking in 1996 final poll: Rec. Pts Pv 1. Penn St. (21) 11-2 1,566 7 2. Florida (12) 12-1 1,548 1 3. Florida St. (7) 11-1 1,507 3 4. Washington (10) 9-3 1,484 16 5. Tennessee (8) 10-2 1,480 9 6. Nebraska (4) 11-2 1,442 6 7. N.Carolina (4) 10-2 1,333 10 8. Colorado (3) 10-2 1,302 8 9. Ohio St. (1) 11-1 1,172 2 10. LSU 10-2 1,096 12 11. Notre Dame 8-3 1,071 19 12. Texas 8-5 1,042 23 13. Miami 9-3 820 14 14. Michigan 8-4 797 20 15. Alabama 10-3 673 11 16. Auburn 8-4 592 24 17. Syracuse 9-3 585 21 18. Stanford 7-5 533 - 19. Brigham Young 14-1 375 5 20. Clemson 7-5 352 - 21. Iowa 9-3 347 18 22. Southern Cal 6-6 219 - 23. Kansas St. 9-3 210 17 24. Wisconsin 8-5 198 - 25. Michigan St. 6-6 148 - Others receiving votes: Colorado St. 132, Arizona St. 131, Texas A&M 118, Virginia Tech 97, UCLA 82, Arizona 59, Northwestern 58, Virginia 45, East Carolina 32, West Virginia 25, Georgia 21, Southern Miss. 12, Utah 11, Houston 8, South Carolina 7, Georgia Tech 4, Illinois 4, San Diego St. 4, Arkansas 3, Mississippi St. 1, Navy 1, Nevada 1, Rice 1, Washington St. 1.