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Alabama, Ohio State grab most first-place votes in coaches poll

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- No. 1 Alabama and second-ranked Ohio State again claim all but one of the first-place votes in the USA Today Coaches football poll.

The poll had its first regular-season update Tuesday and undergoes minor changes although the four ranked teams that lost last week suffered in the voting. Georgia, which lost to Clemson, drops from fifth to No. 12, and Texas Christian, which was beaten by Louisiana State, slips four rungs to 24th. Boise State and Oregon State, which lost to unranked opponents, drop out of the Top 25.

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Clemson is tied (with UCLA) as the biggest mover up, moving from eighth to No. 5 and LSU, now 11th, is among five teams improving two places this week.

Defending BCS champion Alabama, as it did in the pre-season poll, grabs 58 of the 62 first-place votes while Ohio State gets the other three. Oregon remains third with Stanford, the only Top 25 team not to play last week, fourth. Clemson sits in fifth.

South Carolina is up one spot to sixth with Texas A&M, which pulls in the final first-place vote, drops from sixth to No. 7. Louisville and Florida, both up one, are eighth and ninth, respectively. Florida State, 12th in the pre-season, enters the Top 10 at 10th.

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LSU comes in 11th ahead of Georgia with Notre Dame, down two, in 13th. Oklahoma State remains in 14th place but Big 12 foes Oklahoma and Texas switch places with the Sooners in 15th and the Longhorns down to 16.

Michigan is again 17th and UCLA comes in No. 18, pushing Nebraska down one spot to 19th. Big Ten rivals Northwestern, now 20th, and Wisconsin, 21st, are both up two this week.

Southern California, also up two, is 22nd, and Washington enters the poll at 23rd. TCU 20th last week, and Miami (Fla.), unranked in the pre-season, are tied for 24th.

Georgia has a second consecutive Top 10 challenge this week as the Bulldogs face South Carolina. Also in key games, North Dame is at Michigan and Florida plays at Miami (Fla.).

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