Fiesta para UCLA?

Nebraska's loss turned into UCLA's gain. And if the season ended today, UCLA and No. 1 Ohio State would face off in the Fiesta Bowl.

After Texas A&M ended Nebraska's 19-game winning streak with a 28-21 upset, the Cornhuskers tumbled from No. 2 to No. 8 yesterday in The Associated Press' top 25 college football poll - their lowest ranking in more than five years.

The Bruins (4-0) beat Arizona 52-28 on Saturday night and moved up to No. 2 in balloting by the 70 sportswriters and broadcasters on the AP panel. It marks UCLA's highest ranking since the Bruins were No. 1 on Oct. 24, 1988.

Ohio State (5-0) defeated Illinois 41-0 and remained No. 1 with 64 first-place votes and 1,744 points - two first-place votes less than last week.

UCLA (4-0) edged Tennessee for the No. 2 ranking. The Bruins received one first-place vote and 1,647 points, while the Volunteers were No. 3 with three first-place votes and 1,622 points. The Vols (5-0) beat Georgia 22-3.

Kansas State, 5-0 after a 16-9 win over Colorado, improved one place to No. 4 with two first-place votes and 1,554 points, with Florida (5-1) - a 22-10 winner over Louisiana State - moving up to No. 5.

Florida State, which defeated Miami 26-14, was No. 6, followed by No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 10 Texas A&M.

Nebraska (5-1) was last ranked lower than No. 8 on Sept. 5, 1993.

Wisconsin (6-0), a 31-24 winner over Purdue, has its highest ranking since winning the Rose Bowl and finishing No. 6 in the final 1993 poll. The Aggies (5-1) returned to the top 10 for the first time since 1995.

Oregon, which beat Washington State 51-29, moved up four notches to No. 11.

Louisiana State (3-2) fell 10 spots to No. 21 after its second straight loss, followed by No. 22 Texas Tech, No. 23 Syracuse, No. 24 Tulane and No. 25 Georgia Tech.

In the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, the top five were Ohio State, UCLA, Kansas State, Tennessee and Florida. Nebraska was No. 8 in the coaches' poll.

Like Nebraska, Arizona (5-1) and Georgia (4-1) each dropped six places in this week's rankings after losing for the first time, while Colorado (5-1) fell five.

10-12-98