Fightin' Gators Top 13

For the most part the 13th week of the 13th poll will certainly be unlucky for the SEC. The conference which claims to be the best in the land had that image damaged severely with non-conference losses by bowl-bound teams Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

The one point of pride of course is the growing impression that the two best teams in the USA may indeed reside in this conference setting up the most anticipated SEC Championship Game in the history of the event.

Meanwhile the Big 12 will allow the computer dudes and a bunch of retired coaches and athletic directors decide which of its three teams should play for the conference championship.

Now we move on to the FightinGators.com top 13 as chosen by the lawless firm of Vettel, Chmielenski, Redman and Cline.

1. Alabama --- LV: Nick Saban may be the most roundly disliked coach in college football, but he’s made a believer out of me. His team is incredibly sound and well prepared.

2. Florida

3. Texas

4. USC ---- BR: The Trojans should be the team playing for all the marbles against the SEC Champion in January. The old truism in football is that defense wins championships. There isn't a better defense in the country than the one in LA this season. In the meantime, the Big 12 teams have to look up defense in Webster’s to see what it means.

4. Oklahoma

6. Penn State

7. Utah ----- The Utes likely getting a bid to the Sugar Bowl will have the displeasure of playing the Florida/Alabama loser.

8. Texas Tech

9. Ohio State

10. Boise State

11. TCU

12. Georgia Tech ----- HC: Nick Saban will win the award, but Paul Johnson is this season’s National Coach of the Year.

13. Cincinnati

Dubious Achievement Awards -----

HC: Heath Cline ----- This award should be named after Charlie "91 total yards offense" Weis at this point, so Willie Martinez, UGA DC gets it. 409 yards rushing allowed to Georgia Tech is the kind of performance that gets you fired.

LV: The Big 12 ----- The greatest season in the history of the conference is being decided by the most inane tie-breaker imaginable. It also doesn’t help that the four best teams in the league are all in the same division.

BR: The USA Today Polling Coaches --- It is quite obvious with Florida dropping to fourth in their poll that some coaches tried to manipulate the vote to get the Big 12 team they wanted in the championship. I expect this to clean itself up next week when the coaches have to put their names on the ballots, but they should be voting on the teams in order of who they believe is the best and not trying to use their vote to manipulate the entire poll.

CC: LSU -- The Tigers suffered an embarrassing loss to Arkansas. LSU never fully recovered from their 30-point drubbing at the hands of the Gators. The defending national champs lost five of their last eight after winning their first four.