Alabama Unanimous No. 1 in Newest College Football Polls

NEW YORK (WCBI/AP) —Alabama is a unanimous No. 1 and LSU slipped another spot in The Associated Press college football poll.

(Clarion-Ledger)
Amari Cooper hauls in his 2nd TD of the game as Alabama stays atop the college football polls after their 33-14 victory against Ole Miss.

The Crimson Tide received all 60 first-place votes for the first time this season.

The Tigers had a second straight sketchy performance, this time against Towson, and dropped a spot for the second consecutive week. LSU won 38-22 at home against the FCS opponent Saturday night and is ranked No. 4 in the new media poll.

Oregon remained No. 2 and Florida State moved past LSU to No. 3.

Stanford followed up its big win against Southern California by losing to Washington, dropping the Cardinal 10 spots in the poll to No. 18.

With Stanford the lone team in the top 19 to lose, the top of the rankings had only some relatively minor shuffling Sunday.

That will change next week, when five games feature matchups of ranked teams, including three with both teams ranked between Nos. 5-11.

No. 5 Georgia is at No. 6 South Carolina in a SEC East showdown that gives the winner the inside track — though far from a clear path — to the division title.

LSU goes to No. 10 Florida, a crossover SEC matchup that should answer a key question in the national championship race: How worried should the Tigers be about their lethargic offense?

In the Big 12, offense shouldn’t be a problem when No. 8 West Virginia visits No. 11 Texas.

The Mountaineers offense exploded in Saturday’s 70-63 victory against Baylor. Geno Smith threw for eight touchdowns. For the season, he’s completed 83 percent of his passes while grabbing the early lead in the Heisman Trophy race.

Add to that No. 9 Notre Dame facing Miami (4-1) in Chicago, and No. 3 Florida State playing at North Carolina State, and there is no doubt the top 10 will look very different next Sunday — with one exception.

Alabama is off, so No. 1 is most likely safe.

It was only one spot, but Florida State’s move to No. 3 gives the Seminoles their best ranking since they were No. 3 in the first week of November 2003.

After beating Stanford on Thursday, Washington moved into the rankings at No. 23. The Huskies travel to Oregon this week.

No. 24 Northwestern (5-0) is ranked for the first time since the last regular-season poll of the 2008 season. Still, the combined record of Northwestern’s opponents is 6-14 after it beat Indiana 44-29 behind quarterback Kain Colter’s four touchdowns rushing.

Falling out after losses were Michigan State and Baylor, which became the first team to score 63 points and fall out of the rankings.

With Boise State falling out of the rankings after a 32-29 victory at New Mexico, there are no teams from outside the BCS automatic-qualifying conferences in the poll.