A lot has changed from our preseason list -- South Carolina at No. 3? Vanderbilt ahead of Arkansas? We'd prefer to forget those. But one thing that is the same as in our initial rankings is Alabama on top. The Crimson Tide relinquished the top spot at times, but when it mattered, Nick Saban's crew stood tall.

Edward Aschoff, David Ching, Sam Khan Jr., Chris Low, Greg Ostendorf and Alex Scarborough contributed to these rankings.