Traditional polls punish the Alabama Crimson Tide for second loss

The only drama while awaiting the post-Week 8 AP and Coaches Polls was how far the Alabama Crimson Tide would drop. A one-touchdown, SEC road loss is usually not badly damaging if it comes against a highly-ranked team.

Going into Saturday night, the Tennessee Vols were not exactly highly ranked at No. 11, but high enough the Tennessee win was no upset. Poll voters punished Alabama heavily anyway. It is hard to argue that the Crimson Tide's poor offensive performance did not warrant a serious downgrade.

In the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, the downgrade was the same; down eight spots from No. 7 to No. 15. A small consolation to Alabama football fans is that the Crimson Tide is the highest-ranked two-loss team in both polls. Ole Miss is the only other two-loss team to be ranked.

The poll voters agreed on the top four teams: 1) Oregon; 2) Georgia; 3) Penn State; 4) Ohio State; followed by Texas in the AP Poll and Miami in the Coaches Poll.

Alabama Crimson Tide and seven other SEC teams are ranked

Eight SEC football teams are ranked in the top 25 in both polls. At No. 2, the Georgia Bulldogs received just two first-place votes in the Coaches Poll and two in the AP Poll. All the other first-place votes went to the Oregon Ducks. SEC teams, after the Texas Longhorns (No. 6 in the AP and No. 7 in the Coaches) were LSU at No. 7 in the Coaches Poll and No. 8 in the AP Poll; Tennessee, No. 7 in the AP and No. 8 in the Coaches Poll; Texas A&M at No. 14 in both polls, The Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 15 in both polls; Missouri at No. 17 in the Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the AP; Ole Miss at No. 18 in both polls; and Vanderbilt at No. 25 on both polls.

In the AP Poll 'Others' South Carolina got one vote at No. 30. No SEC teams made the 'Others' list in the Coaches Poll.

Worth noting is after the Tennessee game, ESPN's FPI calculates the Alabama Crimson Tide has the No. 7 toughest Strength of Schedule (to date) among all FBS teams.