Alabama Lays Claim to Being the Best in College Football

The Alabama Crimson Tide picked the right time to show it was the best team in college football. With the football world watching, Nick Saban and his players beat Auburn 55-44 Saturday night to lay claim to the “title,” – which had already been in question because CFP voters have Florida State third despite being undefeated.

The Associated Press had been giving the Seminoles credit for an unblemished record for the past two seasons, but this week changed its pattern as the Crimson Tide slipped past the ACC juggernaut.

The Crimson Tide (11-1) received 25 of a possible 59 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,426 points. The Seminoles (12-0) have 29 first-place votes and 1,423 points.

The last time the No. 2 team had more first-place votes than the No. 1 team this late in the season was Nov. 25, 1968, when No. 1 Ohio State had 21½ first-places votes to USC's 24½.

Alabama is No. 1 for the 72nd time overall and first since it lost last year's Iron Bowl.

It is also the seventh straight season the Crimson Tide has been No. 1 at some point, the longest such streak since Miami from 1986-92.

Florida State is the first team to lose the No. 1 ranking twice in a season since Penn State in 1997.

The last time a No. 1 team had a loss and No. 2 was undefeated this late in the season was Nov. 27, 1993, when Florida State (11-1) held the top spot and Nebraska (11-0) was No. 2.

Florida State won a hard fought game against the Florida Gators on Saturday, giving the team its 28^th straight win, which includes the 2013 National Title win over Auburn last season.

The win for FSU was one of the worst performances by the Seminoles all season. Current Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston threw four interceptions in the game.

The Crimson Tide, on the other hand, traded punches back and forth with Auburn until Amari Cooper took the game over with 224 receiving yards on the night and torched the Tigers secondary in the fourth quarter.

The 99 points scored by both teams were the most scored in an Iron Bowl game ever.

The Tide and Seminoles played conference championship games on Saturday and both, along with Oregon, seem to have a clear path to the College Football Playoff if they win.

Alabama will face Missouri in Atlanta while FSU will match up against Georgia Tech.