By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Unbeaten Alabama has retained top ranking in the USA Today coaches poll remain after taking 57 of 59 first-place votes while the top eight teams stayed put and four new teams made it to the list.

The Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0 SEC) earned 1,472 points while the Oregon Ducks strengthened their grip on the No. 2 spot with 1,403 points from 51 second-place votes, 30 more than a week ago.

AJ McCarron covered 160 yards on 22-for-30 passes and two touchdowns as the Alabama Crimson Tide blew by the Ole Miss Rebels, 33-14, Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

McCarron continued to rack up big time stats in his second season as Alabama's starting quarterback, throwing his 11th and 12th touchdown pass in the second quarter to spark the top-rank Crimson Tide to their fifth consecutive victory.

Alabama also showcased their unyielding defense, surrendering Ole Miss to just 14 points - the most points it has allowed this season.

Ole Miss starting quarterback Bo Wallace covered 123 yards on 15-for-16 completions but could not come up with a touchdown pass.

Despite another dominant win, Alabama's reign on top of the BCS pool will be tested in the following weeks when they take on Texas A&M on Oct. 6 and arch rival Auburn on Oct. 13.

LSU stayed at No. 3 but its lead over No. 4 Florida State went down from 55 poll points to 26 after the Tigers looked shaky against FCS member Towson while the Seminoles easily disposed of South Florida on the road.

Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Kansas State remained in their last week's position while Texas climbed to No. 9 and Notre Dame entered the top 10 on its bye week.

Stanford, the only top-10 team to lose in week five, slid nine places to No. 18, edged out by fellow Pac-12 North squad Oregon State by a single point for the 17th position.

Four teams entered the top 25 this week, led by unbeaten Northwestern at No. 22, followed by No. 23 Cincinnati, No. 24 Texas Tech and No. 25 Boise State.

Big Ten's Michigan State and Wisconsin fell out of rankings and so as Big 12's Oklahoma State and Baylor along with Virginia Tech.

The USA Today Board of Coaches is made up of 59 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools and all are members of the American Football Coaches Association.

 

Alabama Retains Top Ranking in Coaches Poll