Alabamas A.J. McCarron (10) calls a play during the fourth quarter of the game against the MIchigan Wolverines at Cowboys Stadium. Alabama beat Michigan 41-14. (Tim Heitman/US PRESSWIRE)

Alabama is back in a familiar spot.

The Crimson Tide grabbed the top spot in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches top 25 polls released Tuesday.

Alabama earned the honor following its resounding 41-14 win over Michigan Saturday night which was enough to convince voters that they deserved to be the No. 1 team in the nation this week. Nick Saban’s team leapfrogged USC this week by earning 45 first-place votes and 1,481 points in the AP poll. I

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It’s not unprecedented for the eventual Heisman winner to lose at least one game during the regular season – in fact, recent history shows that it’s just as common for the winner to lose at least once than it is for him to run the table. Of the last 10 Heisman winners, not counting Reggie Bush, five have lost at least one game during the regular season: Eric Crouch lost once, Carson Palmer lost twice, Tim Tebow lost three times, Sam Bradford lost once and Robert Griffin III lost three times. So the door to the Heisman is far from closed to Matt Barkley, who was unable to lead U.S.C. past Stanford on Saturday night. But o

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Hey, miss you guys. Just wanted to say hello, how’s it going, how’s everything, how’s your team doing, how’s your coach, how’s your quarterback, etc. It’s been a wild year so far, right? Alabama is what we thought it’d be. Not so much with L.S.U., however. But count me among those folks who think that the Tigers will be fine; from my vantage point, I think that L.S.U. is keeping a ton under wraps, and that come November, you’re going to see a few wrinkles appear with a national title berth on the line. Florida should scare Les Miles and pals, on the other hand – the Gators can play a little defense, it seems.

Over in Big Ten country, I’m fascinated by the growth of Nebraska’s offense. Bo Pelini has had Urb

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“…and to draw a bright white line with light (Untitled 11.2, 2012)” Installation at the Art Institute of Chicago

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Uta Barth, a professor of art emeritus at the University of California, Riverside who is known internationally for her abstract photography, has won a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards in the country. She is one of 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2012 named by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArth

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Sam Singer has put up impressive scoring numbers on the basketball court the past two seasons at Ransom Everglades.

His efforts have made him one of the highest-recruited shooting guards in the country.

Singer chose his college destination Tuesday when he committed to the University of California. Singer, a 6-5 shooting guard, is ranked No. 45 nationally among prospects at his position by ESPN.

Singer was one of the top scorers in the nation his junior season leading Miami-Dade County among Class 4A-1A schools with a 34.1 points per game average. That ranked second overall in the county to Carol City grad and University of Miami freshman Deandre Burnett (36.2).

Singer, also a solid distributor on the court, averaged 7.7 assists per game last year and 6.2 as a sophomore.

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Important Locksley news: John L. Smith is not – I repeat, not – eligible for the 2012 award. Why? Let’s consider the first reason: Smith is an interim head coach. I can’t blame you for not being fully aware with the Locksley’s laws and bylaws, seeing that said laws and bylaws have never been put into print. But one crucial factor is that a candidate must be a real, bona fide head coach – not an interim head coach, as is Smith. A second reason is that Smith would be such a lock for the Locksley that taking him out of the running evens the playing field among a slew of other highly qualified candidates. Now, is the

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