Written by Ell
| 28 September 2008
It's now officially time to start a weekly
poll watch, as the Tide is actually a real contender for the status of the #1 team in the nation.
While the Tide's dismantling of the pre-season #1 Georgia didn't quite vault the good guys into the #1 spot, it came awfully close in the AP poll.
Alabama is officially at #2 in this week's writer's poll, a mere voting 34 points behind #1 Oklahoma. For perspective on how close that is, considering that Alabama is 99 voting points ahead of #3 LSU. Of the 65 writers who have votes in the AP poll a staggering 21 actually voted the Tide the #1 team in the nation - including the Louisiana Gannet News Service's Glenn Guilbeau who had the Tide at #17 a week ago.
Interestingly enough neither Doug Segrest (Birmingham News) or Jon Johnson (Dothan Eagle) have the Tide on top. Both of the state's AP writers have Bama at #2 behind Oklahoma.
Here's the breakdown of who had Bama at each spot:
Ranked #1 (21) -
Adam Van Brimmer - Savannah Morning News (GA),
Anthony Gimino - Tucson Citizen (AZ),
Bret Bloomquist - El Paso Times (TX),
Brett McMurphy - Tampa Tribune (FL),
Doug Lesmerises - Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH),
Eric Page - Quad City Times (IA),
Glenn Guilbeau - Gannet News Service (LA),
Jason Frankchuk - Provo Daily Herald (UT),
Jeff White - Richmond Times (VA),
Jim Mashek - Sun Herald (MS),
Joe Giglio - Raleigh News & Observer (NC),
Joe Rexrode - Lansing State Journal (MI),
John Silver - Journal Inquirer (CT),
Jon WIlner - San Jose Mercury News (CA),
Kirk Bohls - Austin American Statesman (TX),
Mike Prater - Idaho Statesman,
Robbie Andreau - Gainesville Sun (FL),
Scott Wolf - Los Angeles Daily News (CA),
Steve Conroy - Boston Herald (MA),
Tom Hart - CBS College Sports Network,
Tom Murphy - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ranked #2 (34) -
Barker Davis - Washington Times (D.C./MD),
Bill Cole - Winston-Salem Journal (NC),
Chris Fowler - ESPN,
Craig James - ABC,
Doug Segrest - Birmingham News (AL),
Eric Hanson - South Bend Tribune (IN),
Fred Lewis - Honolulu Advertiser,
Jake Schaller - Colorado Springs Gazette (CO),
Jeff McLane - Philadelphia Inquirer (PA),
Jim Lamar - Tallahassee Democrat (FL),
Jimmy Burch - Fort Worth Star (TX),
Joe Person - The State (SC),
John Heuser - Ann Arbor News (MI),
Jon Johnson - Dothan Eagle (AL),
Joseph Duarte - Houston Chronicle (TX),
Kent Taylor - WAVE-3 (KY),
Kevin Pearson - Riverside Press-Enterprise (CA),
Kirk Herbstreit - WBNS-AM (OH),
Marcus Fuller - St. Paul Pioneer (MN),
Mark Anderson - Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV),
Matt McCoy - WTVN-AM (OH),
Maurice Patton - The Tennesseean,
Mike DeArmond - Kansas City Star (MO),
Mike Strain - Tusla World (OK),
Myron Patton - KOKH-TV (OK),
Pete DiPrimio - Ft. Wayne News (IN),
Randy Harrison - Albuquerque Journal (NM),
Ray Ratto - San Francisco Chronicle (CA),
Sal Interdonato - Middletown Record (NY),
Steve Sipple - Lincoln Star Journal (NE),
Stewart Mandel - SI.com,
Taylor Zarzour - WPTF-AM (NC),
Tom Keegan - Lawrence Journal (KS),
Tom Mulhern - Wisconsin State Journal
Ranked #3 (5) -
Aditi Kinkhabwala - Bergen Record (NJ),
Herb Gould - Chicago Sun Times (IL),
John Hunt - The Oregonian,
Mike Cedie - WREG-TV (TN),
Ray Fittipaldo - Pittsburgh Post (PA); Fittipaldo was the only writer to have someone other than Oklahoma or Alabama at #1, and he went with Missouri
Ranked #4 (5) - Bob Hammond - Laramie Boomerang (WY),
Mark Tupper - Decatur Herald (IL),
Mitch Vingle - Charlestown Gazzette (WV),
Molly Yanity - Seattle Post-Intelligence (WA),
Randy Rosetta - Baton Rouge Advocate (LA)
So only ten of the 65 voters have Alabama somewhere other than either #1 or #2. It is interesting to note that 15 of Alabama's 21 votes for #1 came outside of the south, including national voter Tom Hart of CBS Collegiate Sports Network.
For a complete look at each pollster's ballot, take a click
here.
There is no public record (at least that I could find) of how the individual coaches in the ESPN/USA Today Poll voted. Bama is ranked #4 in the coaches' poll, behind Oklahoma, LSU, and Missouri.
The Tide receive two votes for #1 and stands just 48 and 49 voting points behind Missouri and LSU (respectively). Oklahoma has a huge 121 voting points lead over LSU.
As long as Bama remains undefeated and in the talk for the national title we'll make this a weekly thing.
