Gators Ranked Eighth In Initial FWAA Super 16 Poll
Friday, August 16, 2002 | Football
With kickoff of the 2002 season just over two weeks away, the Florida Gator football team found itself in the top 10 of another preseason poll, holding the No. 8 spot in the initial Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.
The poll is conducted by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) which uses a 16-member committee representing each region of the country.
The poll makes its debut this season and will resume in the regular season on Mon., Sept. 30 and each subsequent Monday through December 9. Following the conclusion of the Bowl Championship Series, a final poll, to be released on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Tempe, Ariz., will be used to determine the 2002 Grantland Rice Trophy winner. The FWAA has presented its national championship trophy, named in honor of the legendary sportswriter, each year since 1954. This season, however, marks the first time a season-long poll will be concurrent with the award.
Florida was one of four Southeastern Conference schools to be ranked in the initial poll. Tennessee sits fifth, Georgia ninth and LSU owns the No. 16 spot. The SEC tied with the Big 12 for most teams in the poll as the two major conferences combined to seize eight of the 16 positions in the initial rankings.
Straying from the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, which each selected Miami (Fla.) as preseason No. 1, the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll went a different direction and selected Oklahoma as its preseason No. 1.
Miami earned the No. 2 ranking in the Super 16 Poll, followed by Texas and Florida State.
The Super 16 Poll is the third major national poll to rank the Gators as a preseason top 10 team. The Gators sit at No. 6 in the AP preseason poll and No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today preseason rankings.
Florida opens its 96th season of play on Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. when UAB comes to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in the first meeting between the two schools.
Following is the complete preseason Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll:
School [1st Place]
1.Oklahoma [6]
2.Miami (Fla.) [4]
3.Texas [4]
4. Florida State [1]
5.Tennessee [1]
6. Colorado
7. Washington State
8. Florida
9. Georgia
10. Washington
11. Nebraska
12. Ohio State
13. Michigan
14. Oregon
15. Michigan State
16. LSU
Also receiving votes: Louisville 30, Marshall 17, Virginia Tech 15, Oregon State 13, Maryland 8, USC 3, UCLA 2, Boston College 1, N.C. State 1, South Carolina 1, Texas A&M 1, Utah 1, Wisconsin 1.
First-place votes: Oklahoma (6: Mark Blaudschun, Dennis Dodd, Herb Gould, Vahe Gregorian, Ron Higgins, Lenn Robbins); Miami (4: Stewart Mandel, Bob Moran, Darryl Richards, Joe Schad); Texas (4: Shelly Anderson, Gregg Doyel, Ted Miller, Keith Whitmire); Florida State (1: Randy Holtz); Tennessee (1: Jay Posner).
By conference: Big 12 (4), SEC (4), Big Ten (3); Pac-10 (3); ACC (1); Big East (1).
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