The Associated Press

Miami is a unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press poll again, and Southern California moved into the top five for the first time in more than seven years.

The Hurricanes (11-0) strengthened their grip on the top spot in the AP Top 25 poll Sunday, receiving 73 first-place votes and 1,825 points from the sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel. Last week, No.2 Ohio State (13-0) had two first-place votes.

Miami beat Syracuse 49-7 Saturday, and will close out the regular season this weekend against Virginia Tech. With a win over the Hokies, the Hurricanes will meet Ohio State in the BCS national title game at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan.3.

Iowa, co-Big Ten champions with Ohio State, moved up a spot to No.3. The Hawkeyes (11-1) replaced Oklahoma, which dropped to No.8 after a 38-28 loss to Oklahoma State.

Georgia (11-1), a 51-7 winner over Georgia Tech, improved to No.4, followed by Southern California. The Trojans (10-2) topped Notre Dame 44-13, and rose to No.5 for the first time since Oct.15, 1995. The Irish (10-2) fell to No.11 from No.7.

Kansas State was No.6, followed by Washington State, Oklahoma, Texas and Penn State.

The USA Today/ESPN coaches poll had the same top seven, with Miami receiving all but two of the 61 first-place votes.

West Virginia (9-3) made the biggest jump this week - to No.15 from No.24 - after a 24-17 over Pittsburgh. Florida State (9-4) advanced seven spots to No. 16 after its 31-14 win over Florida.

Florida, Colorado State and Pittsburgh each fell eight places, and were ranked Nos.23, 24 and 25, respectively.

Arkansas, 21-20 winners over LSU, moved into the AP Top 25 at No.22. LSU dropped out of the AP poll.

The AP final regular-season poll will be released next Sunday.

The Bowl Championship Series standings, which uses the AP and coaches polls, computer rankings, strength of schedule, won-loss record, and bonus points, determines who plays in its national title game. The final BCS standings will be released Dec.8.

Games next Saturday that will determine BCS bowl fates are Washington State at UCLA, Virginia Tech at Miami, Georgia vs. Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference title game, and Oklahoma vs. Colorado for the Big 12 crown.

The champions of six major conferences - ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC, are guaranteed spots in either the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar or Orange bowls. Two at-large teams are then selected by bowl officials using a complicated system involving final BCS rankings.

Three conference champions have already been determined - Florida State in the ACC, Miami in the Big East and Ohio State in the Big Ten. Among the teams competing for at-large berths are Iowa, Notre Dame and USC. The Trojans, though, can still win the Pac-10 if UCLA beats Washington State on Saturday.

SOUTHERN CAL: Carson Palmer, heralded as the school's next great quarterback when he arrived as a freshman, struggled along with the team for most of his time. But he capped his impressive regular season by throwing for 425 yards, the most ever given up through the air by Notre Dame, in a 44-13 victory over the Irish on Saturday night.

Palmer became the Pac-10's career total offense leader. His 11,314 yards of total offense in his USC career are 29 more than the mark set by UCLA's Cade McNown.

The loss puts the Irish, who seemed to have an Orange Bowl invitation sewn up, in limbo. They could drop to the Gator Bowl.

"The way we played, we don't deserve to be at the Orange Bowl," Notre Dame offensive tackle Jordan Black said.

ALABAMA: Even with a 10-3 record, Alabama would have been in the Southeastern Conference title game if not for NCAA sanctions against the team.

The Crimson Tide defeated Hawaii 21-16 Saturday night to reach 10 wins for the 27th time, extending its NCAA record. Alabama forced a fumble and four interceptions while holding the Warriors to 360 yards, including 97 on the final drive.

Taking stock

A look at bowls and remaining games this college football season:

Teams that have secured bowl bids: Ohio St. (Fiesta)

N.C. St. (Gator)

Maryland (Peach)

Fresno State (Silicon Valley)

Colorado State (Liberty)

TCU (Liberty)

Boise State

(Humanitarian)

Hawaii (Hawaii)

Marshall

(Mobile)

North Texas (New Orleans)

BCS picture:

Only Ohio State has clinched one of the eight BCS bowl berths. Miami (Fla.) leads the No.2 Buckeyes in the BCS standings, followed by Oklahoma, Georgia, Iowa, USC, Notre Dame and Washington State.

Key games

FridayUC at East Carolina, 7 p.m.SaturdayVirginia Tech at Miami, 1 p.m.

Washington St. at UCLA, 4:30 p.m.

Georgia vs. Arkansas, SEC championship, 6 p.m.

Oklahoma vs. Colorado, Big 12 title, 8 p.m.