MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) ?Tommy West had another one of those "I-told-you-we-could-do-it" days on Monday.
His Memphis Tigers are No. 25 this week in The Associated Press college fooóball poll ó the school's first national ranking.
That's not bad for a program that won nine games last season for the first time since 1963 and went to a bowl for the first time in more than 30 years.
The Tigers are off to a 2-0 start, with victories over Ole Miss (20-13) and Division I-AA UT Chattanooga (52-21). They play Arkansas State on Saturday in Jonesboro.
"We're making a little bit of noise now nationally," West said. "It's great, but, man, we've just got to keep going."
West came to Memphis in 2000 as defensive coordinator and is starting his fourth season as head coach. Last season, the Tigers earned their first winning record since 1965, when they went 6-5.
"I think it's a great day," West said Monday at his weekly news conference. "I think it's a historic day, to be honest with you, in Memphis football, and I don't want to downplay it.
"Could it go away? Sure it could go away. But we had to get it first," he said.
According to the university's records, the Tigers came in at 15th in October 1965 in the weekly poll voted on by sports reporters working for AP newspapers and broadcast outlets.
But in those days, AP considered only the top 10 teams as ranked.
West said he got a string of congratulatory phone calls Monday from fans, friends and other coaches around the country.
"When you get into the Top 25, it's just a breath of fresh air for me because everybody was ready to fire me at my other job if I wasn't in the Top 25," he said.
West was talking about his stay at Clemson, where he took his teams to three bowls in five seasons. West was shown the door in 1998 when the Tigers finished 3-8.
Senior quarterback Danny Wimprine, who has played a major role in the Tigers' turnaround, said his teammates know they still have plenty of work to do.
"People are excited around campus and I'm sure we'll hear about it every day, but, like I said, we're just going to have to keep getting better," Wimprine said.
Athletic director R.C. Johnson said the ranking is another indication West has the football program headed in the right direction.
"The obvious, I think, is there'll be some real impact on ticket sales and Tiger Club donations, but in the bigger scheme of things, it gives us credibility," Johnson said.
"All the things we talk about all the time, I think sometimes (the fans) just expect us to say those things," he said. "Now that Tommy has done what he's done for us, people will think, 'Wow, this is the real deal.'"
