Trojans top final AP poll

Auburn earns three first-place votes as USC repeats as writers' champ

Final AP Top 25 (with first-place votes in parentheses) Rk Team Rec Votes Prv. 1 Southern Cal (62) 13-0 1,622 1 2 Auburn (3) 13-0 1,559 3 3 Oklahoma 12-1 1,454 2 4 Utah 12-0 1,438 5 5 Texas 11-1 1,391 6 6 Louisville 11-1 1,261 7 7 Georgia 10-2 1,204 8 8 Iowa 10-2 1,111 11 9 California 10-2 1,060 4 10 Virginia Tech 10-3 996 9 11 Miami 9-3 917 14 12 Boise St. 11-1 888 10 13 Tennessee 10-3 868 15 14 Michigan 9-3 842 13 15 Florida St. 9-3 754 17 16 LSU 9-3 711 12 17 Wisconsin 9-3 482 16 18 Texas Tech 8-4 476 23 19 Arizona St. 9-3 463 21 20 Ohio St. 8-4 423 24 21 Boston College 9-3 314 25 22 Fresno St. 9-3 203 -- 23 Virginia 8-4 157 18 24 Navy 10-2 126 -- 25 Pittsburgh 8-4 99 19 Others receiving votes: Florida 85, Bowling Green 74, Texas A&M 29, N Illinois 27, West Virginia 26, Oregon St. 17, Colorado 13, Connecticut 11, Purdue 10, Georgia Tech 6, Minnesota 6, Southern Miss 1, UTEP 1. Orange Bowl USC 55, Oklahoma 19 SI.com's Stewart Mandel The BCS title game was billed as a classic. It turned into a classic mismatch. • Closer Look: Peterson hits a Trojan wall SI.com's John Donovan The Trojans were much more than Matt Leinart in Miami -- their win was a total team effort. • Closer Look: Bradley blunder opens floodgates SI.com's Pete McEntegart • Running commentary from the press box Sugar Bowl Auburn 16, Virginia Tech 13 SI.com's Kelley King Auburn won't force a split national championship, but it still capped off an amazing season. Rose Bowl Texas 38, Michigan 37 SI.com's Stewart Mandel So what if the Pac-10 wasn't there? Texas and Michigan played one of the top Rose Bowls ever. Fiesta Bowl Utah 35, Pittsburgh 7 Complete College Bowls Coverage

MIAMI (AP) -- Southern California went back-to-back and wire-to-wire.

The Trojans became the second team to start and finish the season No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25, receiving all but three first-place votes early Wednesday to easily outdistance Auburn.

On the strength of a resounding 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, USC (13-0) became the first team since Nebraska in 1994-95 to win back-to-back AP titles.

"We are now unanimously No. 1," Orange Bowl MVP Matt Leinart said right after the game.

Not quite, but good enough.

USC received 62 first-place votes and 1,622 points. Auburn got the other first-place votes and 1,559 points.

"It's probably hard for you to imagine, but we took this thing in stride, step by step as we went through," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We didn't talk about national championship very much, the players probably did some."

The Sooners (12-1) finished third, ahead of unbeaten Utah (12-0) and Texas (11-1).

Auburn (13-0) finished its perfect season Monday night with a 16-13 victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville and his team practically pleaded with poll voters to give his team a championship, but to no avail.

The Trojans' 36-point rout was the third largest margin in a 1 vs. 2 matchup.

USC joins Florida State in 1999 as the only teams to go wire-to-wire since the AP started a preseason poll in 1950. The Trojans are also the 10th preseason No. 1 to win the national championship.

The Trojans' fifth AP title ties them with Miami for the fourth most.

Louisville was No. 6, followed by Georgia, Iowa, California and Virginia Tech.

Miami was 11th and for the first time since 1982, no team from Florida ended the season ranked among the nation's top five.

Florida State (9-3) finished ranked 15th and Florida (7-5) ended the season unranked.

Boise State's first loss of the season to Louisville in the Liberty Bowl dropped the Broncos two spots to No. 12.

Navy made it into the rankings for the first time since 1979 at No. 24. Fresno State also joined the poll at 22.