Florida No. 1, OU ahead of Texas in AP poll; Utah Utes ranked No. 7

Florida was No. 1, Oklahoma No. 2 and Texas' chances of getting a championship trophy took a hit.

The Longhorns were No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll released Sunday, behind the two teams expected to be matched later in the day in the national title game Jan. 8 in Miami.

The Gators finished the season No. 1 in the AP poll two seasons ago, but before that Florida last led the media rankings in October 2001.

Tim Tebow and the Gators won the Southeastern Conference championship Saturday with a 31-20 victory against previously unbeaten and then-No. 1 Alabama.

Florida, which received 50 first-place votes, becomes the sixth team to be No. 1 this season. Georgia started there. Southern California took over after the first games were played and held the top spot for four weeks.

After USC lost at Oregon State, Oklahoma rose to No. 1 and stayed there for two weeks. The Sooners lost to Texas 45-35 on Oct. 11.

The Longhorns were No. 1 until losing 39-33 on a last-second touchdown at Texas Tech on Oct. 25. That made Alabama No. 1, where the Tide stayed until losing to the Gators and falling to No. 4.

The last season in which there were six No. 1 teams was 1984.

The Sooners won the Big 12 championship, a game many felt Texas deserved to be in instead of Oklahoma because of the head-to-head result, by routing Missouri 62-21 on Saturday night. The latest offensive barrage by the Sooners, who have set an NCAA record for points in a season with 702, helped OU move up two spots in the Top 25 and jump over Texas in another close vote.

Last week, Texas was ranked third, eight points ahead of Oklahoma. This week, Oklahoma is 10 points ahead of Texas.

Oklahoma received nine first-place votes. Texas had six. Last week, 40 voters had Texas ahead of Oklahoma in the AP poll, most by one spot. The Longhorns were ahead of the Sooners on 34 ballots this week.

The shift means it's unlikely Texas could finish No. 1 in the AP poll after the bowls are played — the Longhorns are expected to be matched against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl — no matter how the BCS title game between Oklahoma and Florida plays out.

The next and final AP Top 25 will be released hours after the BCS championship game.