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10/20/2003 12:00 AM | Football
Oct. 20, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
After its fifth-consecutive victory, a 28-10 victory over UNLV last Saturday, the Utah football team has moved into the national rankings for the first time since 1996. Utah checked in at No. 24 in the Associated Press rankings and No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.
Utah's inclusion in the Oct. 19 rankings marks its first appearance in the polls since 1996. The Utes were ranked for four weeks in the A.P. poll and five weeks in the USA Today/Coaches poll that year. Utah rose as high as No. 20 in the A.P. poll and No. 19 in the coaches poll on Oct. 28, 1996 before losing to Rice on Nov. 2.
Utah's best season with the pollsters was 1994, when the Utes were ranked for 11 straight weeks by the A.P. and 12 straight weeks by the coaches. Utah earned a final A.P. ranking of No. 10 and coaches ranking of No. 8 on Jan. 3. Utah's best-ever A.P. ranking was No. 9 on Oct. 30, 1994. The coaches poll twice ranked Utah No. 8 that year (Oct. 30 and Jan. 3).
Utah's only other appearance in the A.P. rankings, which began in 1936, was in 1947, when the Utes were ranked 18th for one week.