The Southeastern Conference needs to find another pushover.

Vanderbilt, for years the weakest team in college football's toughest league, moved into The Associated Press Top 25 yesterday for the first time in 24 years.

The unbeaten Commodores are No. 21 in the latest rankings.

"I think it's a pretty good reward for a good start," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said in a telephone interview. "Our guys are pretty smart. They realize it won't help you win games.

"They're already a pretty confident bunch. They're going to go into games thinking they're going to have a good chance to win."

At the top of the AP media poll, little changed after No. 1 Southern California and No. 2 Oklahoma had the week off.

No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Florida held their spots and LSU moved up one place after a 26-21 victory at Auburn, giving the SEC three teams in the top five.

Last week, the SEC became the first league to have five teams in the AP top 10, but Auburn dropped five spots from No. 10 to 15th this week, leaving the SEC with four in the top 10, including No. 8 Alabama.

The Big 12 also has four top-10 teams with Oklahoma joined by No. 6 Missouri, No. 7 Texas and No. 10 Texas Tech.

Wisconsin is No. 9.

The top 4 teams are identical in the USA Today Top 25 coaches' poll.

Vanderbilt improved to 4-0 for the second time in four seasons, with a 23-17 win at Mississippi on Saturday. The Commodores have also beaten Miami of Ohio, South Carolina and Rice.

Vanderbilt was ranked as high as 19th in 1984 after starting 4-0. The last time Vanderbilt had a winning season was 1982, when it went 8-4 and played in the Hall of Fame bowl.

The Western Athletic Conference has two teams in the rankings — No. 20 Boise State, which won at Oregon, and Fresno State, which stayed at No. 25 after going to double overtime to beat Toledo, 55-54.

NOTES

Rutgers: Quarterback Mike Teel will not be punished for throwing a punch at teammate Glen Lee in the waning seconds of Rutgers' loss to Navy on Saturday. Shortly after Navy kicked a go-ahead field goal, Teel threw an interception that iced the Midshipmen's 23-21 win in Annapolis. As Teel was coming off the field, Lee, a reserve defensive back, was trying to encourage him to keep his head up and come off the field. Teel then threw a punch. Teel later apologized for his actions.

Notre Dame: Tight end Will Yeatman and center Mike Golic Jr., son of an ESPN television host, were among 41 people arrested on misdemeanor alcohol charges early yesterday at a South Bend home, police said. Yeatman, 20, and Golic, 18, were charged with being minors consuming alcohol, said Sgt. Al Taylor of the Indiana State Excise Police. Others arrested included members of the Notre Dame lacrosse and soccer teams, he said.

Ball State: Ball State receiver Dante Love is moving his arms and legs after undergoing a five-hour surgical procedure to stabilize a back fracture, school officials said yesterday. Love had surgery to stabilize a cervical spinal fracture and spinal cord injury after being injured early in the second quarter of Saturday night's 42-20 win at Indiana.