‘Bama bounces back, returns to No. 1

November 9, 11:01 AMSMU Mustangs ExaminerRichard Day

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  Julio Jones celebrates his 73-yard TD (AP)

Alabama dominated the fourth quarter and defeated bitter rival LSU Saturday to claim the Southeastern Conference West title for the second straight year and set up a rematch with Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

The Crimson Tide and Gators – both 9-0 – have averaged 14-point victories against four common opponents. Alabama defeated Arkansas 35-7, Kentucky, 38-20, Tennessee 12-10 and LSU 24-15 (a 27-13 average). Florida beat Arkansas 23-20, Kentucky 41-7, Tennessee 23-13 and LSU 13-3 (a 25-11 average). They will decide who’s best December 7th in Atlanta.

Texas continues to crush unranked opponents – 35-3 over Central Florida this week – and, with upcoming games against 4-5 Baylor, 5-4 Kansas, 5-4 Texas A&M and either Kansas State or Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game, should cruise into the national title game against the SEC champ.

TCU won easily, while Cincinnati and Boise State were fortunate to remain undefeated. The pressure to keep winning streaks alive is mounting as the bowl season approaches.

Regular readers might recall the following warning in last week’s rankings column: “Looking past Northwestern to their November 14th showdown with Ohio State could prove disastrous (for Iowa), as the Wildcats gave 8-1 Penn State all it could handle for three quarters.” Iowa may not have been looking ahead to a showdown with the Buckeyes, but Northwestern knocked quarterback Ricky Stanzi out of the game and the Hawkeyes from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Here is my top-25 ballot for this week:
  1. Alabama (9-0)
  2. Florida (9-0)
  3. Texas (9-0)
  4. TCU (9-0)
  5. Cincinnati (9-0)
  6. Boise State (9-0)
  7. Georgia Tech (9-1)
  8. Iowa (9-1)
  9. Pittsburgh (8-1)
10. LSU (7-2)
11. Miami (Fla.) (7-2)
12. Oregon (7-2)
13. USC (7-2)
14. Houston (8-1)
15. Wisconsin (7-2)
16. Ohio State (8-2)
17. Arizona (6-2)
18. Oklahoma State (7-2)
19. Penn State (8-2)
20. Virginia Tech (6-3)
21. Clemson (6-3)
22. Oregon State (6-3)
23. South Florida (6-2)
24. Auburn (7-3)
25. Utah (8-1)