Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Lefty wins his 40th PGA Tour event with his never-ending supply of tricks up his sleeve. What We Learned this week at Pebble Beach.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Getty Images
NEW YORK - After a steady climb, Alabama has reached the top of the AP poll.
The Crimson Tide jumped Florida and landed at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday.
The unbeaten Gators had been in the top spot since the preseason, but the Crimson Tide has been gaining ground for weeks by winning more convincingly than the Gators.
The final surge came after Alabama beat South Carolina 20-6 and Florida needed a field goal in the waning seconds to beat Arkansas 23-20 at home.
The Crimson Tide, which received 10 first-place votes last week, got 39 out of 59 from the media panel. Florida received the other 20 first-place votes.
Texas is No. 3, followed by Southern California, Cincinnati and Boise State at No. 6. The Broncos dropped a spot.
The first BCS standings also came out Sunday and Florida was in first place, followed by Alabama, Texas and Boise State.
Unbeaten Iowa moved up four places after beating Wisconsin 20-10 on the road. Miami, LSU and TCU round out the top 10.
Alabama started the season ranked fifth, then immediately moved up a spot to fourth after beating Virginia Tech to start the season. After two weeks at No. 4, the Crimson Tide moved up another spot to No. 3.
After three weeks behind Florida and Texas, Alabama jumped the Longhorns last week and finished the climb to No. 1 on Sunday.
Alabama was No. 1 for five weeks in the second half of last season, including two weeks when SEC rival Florida was No. 2.
The Gators, the defending national champions, came into the season as an overwhelming No. 1, receiving the highest of percentage of first-place votes ever in the preseason poll.
But Tim Tebow and the Gators have sputtered offensively and had trouble putting away the better teams on their schedule. They had 10-point victories against Tennessee and LSU before beating Arkansas on a field goal with 9 seconds left.
Alabama’s four SEC victories have been by an average of 19 points, with the closest margin being 14 against South Carolina.
Florida’s four SEC wins have been by an average of 14 points, but that was padded by a 34-point victory against Kentucky.
“Saturday, after watching Florida give up big plays to an offense Alabama completely shut down, I decided to make the switch,” said Andy Staples of SI.com. “Alabama, at the moment, seems to have fewer weaknesses than anyone else.”
Alabama also has a nonconference victory against No. 15 Virginia Tech. Florida has played only one ranked team, LSU.
“I had been reluctant to make a switch at No. 1, even though Alabama has looked good all year,” wrote Mike Strain, of the Tulsa World, in an e-mail. “But after Saturday, I voted Alabama No. 1, because I think the Crimson Tide has produced more impressive performances than Florida so far.”
Georgia Tech made the biggest jump in the rankings this week, moving up eight spots to No. 11 after beating Virginia Tech 28-23.
The Hokies dropped 11 spots from No. 4 to 15. Ohio State also dropped 11 spots to 18. The Buckeyes were upset 26-18 at Purdue.
Oregon is No. 12, followed by Penn State and Oklahoma State.
No. 16 BYU then Houston, Ohio State, Utah and Pittsburgh finish the first 20.
Pitt, No. 21 Texas Tech and No. 22 West Virginia are ranked for the first time this season.
No. 23 South Carolina, No. 24 Kansas and No. 25 Oklahoma all lost, but remained ranked.
The Sooners, who have lost three games to ranked teams by a combine five points — with Sam Bradford missing most of each game — are the first team to be ranked with a 3-3 record since Tennessee in Oct. 23, 2005.
The Volunteers finished that season unranked and with a sub-.500 record.
Falling out of the rankings this week were Notre Dame, South Florida and Nebraska.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
 | Slideshow |
 |
NBCSports.com |
CollegeFootballTalk headlines |
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.