For the first time in school history, the University of Hawai'i football team will open the season ranked in the Associated Press' top-25 poll.

The Warriors are No. 23 in the preseason poll that was announced yesterday morning.

"That's nice," UH coach June Jones said after yesterday's practice at Aloha Stadium. "It will mean more if we're ranked at the end of the season."

Left tackle Keith AhSoon said the ranking is "good. It's something special. We just have to hold on to it."

Earlier, the Warriors were ranked No. 24 in the USA Today coaches' poll.

A panel of media vote on the AP poll.

With a soft non-conference schedule, the Warriors had hoped to open in the polls.

The Warriors are led by quarterback Colt Brennan, a school-promoted Heisman Trophy candidate.

"It's great to be ranked," defensive tackle Michael Lafaele said. "It's a start. It looks good for our team, our program, our state."

TROJANS NO. 1

After a season of chasing, Southern California is again the team being chased.

And that's just the way coach Pete Carroll and the Trojans like it.

For the third time in the past four years, USC begins the college football season No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25.

"It's exactly where we hope and expect to be," Carroll said. "It's a symbol of what we're all about."

Southern California received 62 of 65 first-place votes and 1,622 points from a panel of media members. USC easily outdistanced No. 2 LSU in the poll.

The Tigers received two first-place votes and 1,511 points. They haven't started a season ranked this high since 1959, when they were preseason No. 1.

No. 3 West Virginia received the other first-place vote. The Mountaineers have never been ranked higher in the preseason. No. 4 Texas and Michigan round out the top five, and defending champion Florida is sixth.

USC has been the country's top program since 2002, going 59-6 with two national championships and a near-miss. This season, the Trojans expect to walk away from the BCS national championship game in New Orleans with the crystal football.

"That's what we're here for. We're here to do it better than anybody has ever done it before," Carroll said. "That's the single thought. That's what drives us. If that's the case, you want to be No. 1 forever."

For the Trojans, this is the 82nd time they've been No. 1 in the poll. Only Notre Dame (95), Oklahoma (95) and Ohio State (88) have more.

Much of the Trojans' time at No. 1 has been since late in 2003, when they took the top spot at the end of the regular season and finished No. 1 the AP poll — despite being left out of the national title game. LSU finished No. 1 in the coaches' poll.