I always said that Alabama would have to pick it up a notch to win these games. The defense has been excellent all year but the offense has been listless since losing wide receiver/punt returner Tyrone Prothro, easily their best playmaker, late in the Florida win. Losing their center last week was hard to come back from, too. That's football, of course.

Playing in a tough conference means even the best teams in the league are going to have losses. LSU lost to Tennessee, which is having its worst season in recent memory. Georgia has now lost twice, as has Auburn. Of course, Florida State, a top ranked team when Miami played them, has now lost four times for the same reason. They're all very good college football teams.

I still contend, though, that late season rankings should reflect records more so than guesses as to who's better. An undefeated major conference team should simply not be ranked behind a team with losses.

Jo: Ironically, Auburn fans should have been rooting for Bama yesterday. An LSU win virtually assured that LSU will win the division title; an Alabama win would have given Auburn the title if the beat the Tide.

As to your post last week and my comments about giving them credit for games they haven't played, well, I feel vindicated. Alabama has now only played two ranked teams this year, a Florida team that has lost twice and LSU to whom they lost at home. They probably won't play Georgia now, though Auburn, of course, remains on the schedule. IMHO, Alabama will be lucky to finish in the top 10 now.