Alabama players celebrate after defeating Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS National Championship in Miami on January 7, 2013. UPI/Marc Serota |
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MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Alabama, which dominated Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game, was officially crowned the No. 1 team in the USA Today Coaches' poll Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide (13-1) ended the 2012-13 college football bowl season with a 42-14 rout of previously unbeaten Notre Dame (12-1) in Monday's Bowl Championship Series finale. It was the third title in four years for Alabama and seventh consecutive season a team from the Southeastern Conference won the national title.
Seven SEC teams, including three in the first five and five in the Top 10, are in the final coaches' rankings. No other conference has more than three teams ranked.
The vote for No. 1 is a formality as Board of Coaches members must list the BCS title game winner first on their ballots and all 56 voting members did so. Alabama was No. 1 for 10 weeks during the regular season until a loss to Texas A&M.
Oregon (12-1) took over the top spot after that loss, holding it for one week before suffering its only loss of the year and yielding the No. 1 ranking to Notre Dame.
Oregon beat Kansas State 35-17 in the Fiesta Bowl and that caught the voters' attention enough to give the Ducks the season-ending No. 2 ranking with Notre Dame third.
Georgia (12-2) comes in fourth followed by Texas A&M, which capped its 11-2 season with a 41-13 rout of Oklahoma behind freshman Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.
Stanford (12-2) is sixth with South Carolina (11-2) voted seventh while Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Florida State (12-2) and Clemson (11-2) are eighth and ninth, respectively. Florida (11-2) comes in 10th.
Kansas State (11-2) is No. 11 and 12th-ranked Louisiana State (10-3) was just ahead of No. 13 Louisville (11-2). Boise State (11-2) winds up 14th and Oklahoma (10-3) comes in No. 15.
Northwestern (10-3), at 16th, is the highest-ranked Big Ten team. Utah State (11-2) takes the No. 17 spot followed by, in order, Texas, Oregon State and Vanderbilt, all 9-4.
San Jose State (11-2) comes in 21st ahead of No. 22 Cincinnati (10-3) while Nebraska (10-4) is 23rd, Northern Illinois (12-2) 24th and Tulsa (11-3) completes the final Top 25.
Vanderbilt, Cincinnati and Tulsa weren't in the final regular-season ranking. UCLA, Michigan and Wisconsin were dropped from the Top 25 in the final poll.
