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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, November 3, 2008

Alabama becomes fifth team to top AP Top 25

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Nick Saban will lead No. 1 Alabama against LSU Saturday.

BUTCH DILL | Associated Press

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Next up at No. 1, Alabama.

The Crimson Tide became the fifth team this season to sit atop the AP Top 25, moving up a spot yesterday after previously top-ranked Texas was toppled by Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders, who scored a touchdown with a second left at home to beat the Longhorns, 39-33, Saturday night, jumped four spots and past No. 3 Penn State to No. 2. The unbeaten Nittany Lions were idle.

No. 4 Florida moved up one place after its 49-10 rout of Georgia and Texas dropped four spots to No. 5.

The Crimson Tide, which beat Arkansas State 35-0, received 46 of a possible 65 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,600 points. Texas Tech got 12 first-place votes and 1,528 points and Penn State had six and 1,525. The Gators received the other No. 1 vote.

In the USA Today Coaches Top 25, Alabama is No. 1, followed by Penn State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Florida.

In the BCS standings, Alabama is No. 1, followed by Texas Tech, Penn State, Texas and Florida.

The top spot in the AP poll hasn't been held by this many teams since 1990, when Miami, Notre Dame, Colorado, Michigan and Virginia all had a turn at No 1.

Georgia started this season No. 1 and was replaced by Southern California after the opening week.

USC lasted four weeks before being upset by Oregon State and Oklahoma took the top spot. The Sooners were No. 1 for two weeks, then lost to Texas, which held the top spot for three weeks.

Now it's Alabama's turn.

The Crimson Tide hasn't been No. 1 since finishing that way after the 1992 season, when coach Gene Stallings, quarterback Jay Barker and a ferocious defense won the last of the Tide's six AP national championships.

Alabama's first game as a No. 1 team since October, 27, 1980, will be Saturday at LSU, a date that was one of the most anticipated in the Southeastern Conference even before this season.

Tide coach Nick Saban will be coaching in Baton Rouge, La., for the first time since he left the Tigers for the NFL after the 2004 season. Saban led LSU to a BCS national title in 2003.

So the Tide, with its new lofty status, will face a stiff test immediately. Same goes for Texas Tech, which had never been ranked higher than No. 5. The Red Raiders host No. 8 Oklahoma State on Saturday.

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