AP poll makes it official: Longhorns finish No. 1

PASADENA, Calif. – All season long, the No. 1 college football ranking belonged to Southern California – before Texas took it away at the end.

The Longhorns finished first, a unanimous choice, in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 1969 after beating the Trojans 41-38 in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.

Not only did Texas end USC’s 34-game winning streak, the Longhorns snapped USC’s record string of 33 consecutive polls as No. 1.

Texas opened the season No. 2 behind USC and coach Mack Brown and his players never grumbled about being stuck behind the two-time defending national champions.

The Longhorns were fine with waiting for a chance to prove they were the best on the field – and they did.

Vince Young ran and passed for 467 yards and scrambled 8 yards for the winning score with 19 seconds left for Texas (13-0).

The Longhorns received all 65 first-place votes.

USC was second, ahead of Joe Paterno and Penn State, which had its highest final ranking since finishing No. 2 in 1994.

Ohio State was fourth, and West Virginia finished fifth.