Notre Dame No. 1 in polls, but not unanimous in coaches' rankings
Notre Dame and Alabama were ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the final regular-season Associated Press and USA Today college football polls released on Sunday, but the Irish were not a unanimous No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll.
Notre Dame, the only unbeaten, bowl-eligible, FBS team, got all 60 first-place votes in the AP media poll, but got only 56 of 59 first-place votes in USA Today coaches poll.
Alabama, which beat Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday, got the other three first-place votes, even though it lost to Texas A&M earlier in the season.
It doesn't matter much, because Notre Dame and Alabama undoubtedly will meet in the national championship game. That matchup as well as the matchups in the other four BCS games are scheduled to be announced at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Sunday.
Ohio State, the other unbeaten FBS team, is No. 3 in the AP poll, but is unranked in the coaches' poll, which does not include teams that are ineligible for the postseason.
Georgia slipped to sixth in the AP poll and fifth in the USA Today poll, behind Florida, which was fourth in both polls - one spot ahead of Oregon in the AP poll and one place behind the Ducks in the coaches poll.
Of note is the fact that Boise State and Northern Illinois are ranked 15th and 16th in the USA Today poll, and if one finishes in the top 16 of the BCS standings, it will play in a BCS game. (If both finish in the top 16, only the higher ranked one gets a BCS berth, assuming a champion from one of the six major conferences is ranked lower.)
