After a 21-0 victory over LSU in the bowl championship game last night, a final AP poll crowned the Crimson Tide No. 1. Alabama received 55 first-place votes, while LSU got one.
As the AP reports, yesterday's victory easily erased Alabama's Nov. 5 loss against LSU.
And, consider the source, but The Birmingham News is talking up the D-word.
"Not 'D' as in defense, which led Alabama to a 21-0 victory over top-ranked LSU on Monday night in the BCS Championship Game," writes Don Kausler Jr. this morning. "'D' as in dynasty."
Yesterday's win gave Alabama its second national title in three years, so, says Kausler, expect lots of questions in the coming day about how much longer can Alabama dominate college football.
USA Today says the big story of the night, however, was indeed the other D. They report the Crimson Tide's defense "held LSU to just 92 yards and zero points, the first shutout in the BCS's 14-year, 62-game history. LSU crossed midfield just once, with 7:58 remaining in the game."
Alabama coach Nick Saban — who became the first coach to win three BCS titles, two with Alabama, one with LSU in 2003 — kept humble refusing to call the win "domination."
"No. No. I'm sure when we watch the film these guys know we always have a good, bad and ugly reel," Saban told USA Today. "I can always find something ugly to talk about."
But the headlines begged to differ:
Gene Wojciechowski writes at ESPN that a with game like yesterday's with a "victory ... so complete, so overpowering and so convincing," there is no doubting the BCS rankings. There's no doubting that the Tide deserve the top spot.
Sports Illustrated had the same sentiment, using the headline "Crimson Crush."
But if you're looking for some dissent, Stewart Mandel writes that despite the convincing win, the season belongs to the LSU Tigers. Mandel writes:
"Alabama won a national championship in utterly convincing fashion, yet the result was utterly unsatisfying. The Tigers, not the Tide, won the SEC championship. The Tigers, not the Tide, remarkably beat three of the five BCS bowl champions (Oregon, West Virginia and Alabama). The Tigers, not the Tide, won the teams' first meeting, in a road game that at the time was a presumed elimination game.
"A set of pollsters and voters afforded Alabama a second shot at LSU, and the Tide couldn't have avenged the previous result more convincingly. But instead of a coronation, doesn't it feel like there should be another step? Wouldn't it be nice to see the Tide move on to another round and, say, beat an elite team from another conference? Doesn't it feel just a little bit ... unfair?
"'It's not unfair,' said gracious LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers. 'We were second tonight. They were the better team.'"
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
