Florida finishes No. 1 in final AP poll; Hokies No. 15

By Staff Reports

Published: January 9, 2009

-- Fresh off their 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in last night's BCS championship game, Florida's Gators finished No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll of the season.

But the AP voters were far from unanimous in their decision to make Florida (13-1) the top team in the land.

The Gators received 48 first-place votes.

Utah, the only team in the nation to finish the season undefeated, got 16 first-place votes. Still, it wasn't enough for the Utes (13-0) to move up into the top spot in the AP poll.

Finishing third behind Utah was Southern Cal (12-1), which got one first-place vote.

Texas and Oklahoma rounded out the top five.

The lone Virginia team in the final Top 25 was Virginia Tech, which capped a 10-4 season with a victory over Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl. The Hokies wound up 15th in the final poll.