The first Harris Interactive College Football Poll was announced Sunday night and Syracuse earned three votes.

The Harris Poll, which is part of the new Bowl Championship Series standings, is a Top 25 ranking compiled by a panel of 114 former coaches, players, administrators and former and current media. Among them is former SU Athletics Director Jake Crouthamel.

In the poll, teams are assigned points based on what number they were ranked on the respective ballots. Syracuse most likely earned three single-point votes.

Orange head coach Greg Robinson was not aware that Syracuse received votes in the Harris Poll on Monday.

‘Now, my wife has a vote, but I don’t know who the other two are,’ Robinson joked. ‘I like that, though. I think we’re gonna keep getting better.’

Syracuse was one of four Big East schools to receive votes. Louisville was ranked No. 24 with 365 points in the poll and West Virginia just missed the Top 25 with 132 points. South Florida also received 14 points after its 45-14 upset of Louisville on Saturday.

Florida State, who hosts SU Saturday, ranks sixth with 2,193 points.

In an effort to make the process transparent, Harris Interactive in Rochester will reveal each panelist’s rankings throughout the season after the final poll on Dec. 5.

Falke still out

Robinson said offensive tackle Kurt Falke will again be out for Saturday’s game against Florida State.

‘He’s still banged up and he’s not ready to practice,’ Robinson said.

The senior injured his left knee in Sept. 10’s 31-0 defeat of Buffalo on a screen pass. Falke caught the ball, intended for running back Damien Rhodes, for an 8-yard loss but needed to be helped off the field with knee and ankle injuries.

Sophomore Carroll Madison took Falke’s place in the lineup against Virginia on Sept. 17.

‘I think our (offensive line) is getting better,’ Robinson said. ‘We gotta get the ball off and be effective in our pass protection. I think our tight ends are doing a good job in pass protection.’

Long rest

Robinson said he wasn’t concerned that Syracuse had an off-week leading into its game against Florida State. He said the Orange had three strong practices last week before the team began preparation Sunday for the Seminoles.

‘I liked the way we worked,’ Robinson said. ‘It doesn’t matter where you are – in college or in the NFL, it’s tough in a bye week. I was pleased with our work, now we’ll focus more on Florida State.’

The No. 6 Seminoles are 3-0 this season with ACC wins against Miami and Boston College.

In scouting FSU, Robinson said he was impressed with their offense, particularly freshman quarterback Drew Weatherford and running backs Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker.

‘Washington has got power to him,’ Robinson said. ‘He’s a stocky guy, he cuts and breaks, but he can flash on you. Booker’s just got speed. They have big play potential.’

This and that…

SU running back Damien Rhodes is first in the Big East and 10th nationally with 120.3 rushing yards per game this season. … SU head coach Greg Robinson said he’s never been to Tallahassee for a game and he’s never met FSU head coach Bobby Bowden.

Published on September 26, 2005 at 12:00 pm