Alabama Football Rises, Remains in Polls After Arkansas Win

The Crimson Tide moved up in the Coaches Poll following a 24-21 win over the Razorbacks — and some help — on Saturday.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Fresh off a 24-21 win over Arkansas, the Alabama Crimson Tide made some moves in the polls.

The Crimson Tide (6-1, 4-0 SEC) was aided by losses from Oregon and USC — which both lost on the road Saturday.

Alabama now sits at No. 8 in the Coaches Poll, tied with Texas — which beat the Crimson Tide on Sept. 9.

"I'll tell you like I told the team, it's great to win," head coach Nick Saban said after the game on Saturday. "It's great to be where we are in the SEC relative to how we've progressed. But there's a difference between beating the other team and winning the game. We played pretty well in the game up till 24-6, which was about halfway through the third quarter, and then we didn't finish."

"Hopefully, we can learn how to beat the other team, not just win the game, but how to beat the other team — which means you have to play for 60 minutes, you have to execute and do it one play at a time for 60 minutes in the game."

Week 8 Coaches Poll

• (1) Georgia
• (2) Michigan
• (3) Ohio State
• (4) Florida State
• (5) Washington
• (6) Penn State
• (7) Oklahoma
• (T8) Texas
• (T8) Alabama
• (10) North Carolina
• (11) Oregon
• (12) Ole Miss
• (13) Oregon State
• (14) Utah
• (15) Tennessee
• (16) USC
• (17) Duke
• (18) Notre Dame
• (19) LSU
• (20) Missouri
• (21) Louisville
• (22) Air Force
• (23) Iowa
• (24) Tulane
• (25) UCLA

However, Alabama didn't move from No. 11 in the AP Top 25.

Week 8 AP Poll

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Florida State
5. Washington
6. Oklahoma
7. Penn State
8. Texas
9. Oregon
10. North Carolina
11. Alabama
12. Oregon State
13. Ole Miss
14. Utah
15. Notre Dame
16. Duke
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. LSU
20. Missouri
21. Louisville
22. Air Force
23. Tulane
24. Iowa
25. UCLA

The No. 10, No. 11 Crimson Tide hosts No. 15, No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

See Also:

Takeaways from Alabama Football's Lesson-Learning Win Over Arkansas