It has been a long road back - since September 2003 to be exact - but Alabama's football program has returned to the top 20.

Once the bellcow of the SEC before a couple of NCAA probations and a string of coaching changes, 'Bama has had trouble getting back on its feet.

But a solid performance in a 37-14 SEC road victory at South Carolina shot the Crimson Tide to No. 20 in the polls. Alabama hasn't been ranked since a loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 20, 2003. It's the highest ranking since the '02 team finished the season at No. 11.

"That game (against South Carolina) was a big step for us," said Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle, who was afforded the luxury of sitting out part of the second half. "But we've still got a long way to go to get the respect that Alabama needs to get its program back going."

Lost in Alabama's 338 rushing yards against Carolina were Croyle's 28 yards on four carries, including a 15-yard TD scramble. While Croyle's teammates were cracking on him, calling him "Vanilla Vick," 'Bama coach and former Tide QB Mike Shula said, "I thought I was the slowest quarterback in Alabama history."

Yes, They Are No. 1: When Arkansas coach Houston Nutt's team gets crushed like a roach under a bulldozer, as the Razorbacks did in a 70-17 loss at No. 1 Southern Cal on Saturday, it's a no-brainer for Nutt to vote the defending two-time national champion Trojans No. 1 again in this week's coaches poll.

"I felt guilty I could only rank them No. 1," Nutt said. "They have a total team. They have the best offensive team I've seen."

Warning: It's a team effort at Ole Miss. In the midst of Saturday's 31-23 loss at Vanderbilt, the Rebels received a sideline warning from an official.

Apparently, Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone, standing on the sideline within earshot of an official, told him exactly what he thought of a ruling unfavorable to the Rebels. Also, Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat correctly had stadium security remove a Vanderbilt student who was viciously heckling Patrick Willis as he was being taken to the locker room with injury.

No Rest: It would have been nice had Mississippi State running back Jerious Norwood had rested his bruised left shoulder in Saturday's 21-14 non-conference victory over Tulane. But the game was a struggle for State, which has no offensive threats when Norwood is not on the field.

Norwood, who ran for 99 yards on 21 carries, including the game-winning 17-yard TD, acknowledged he was trying to absorb blows from defenders with his right shoulder.

Auburn's Run: Just last week, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville was talking about his team's fluid running back situation, and how different it was from last year when the Tigers had Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown, now in the NFL.

"We had a situation where Ronnie Brown was the greatest reliever in college football," Tuberville said. "Cadillac was the starter and Ronnie was the reliever."

It hasn't been that way this year, but after Auburn's 63-3 victory over Ball State on Saturday, running backs coach Eddie Gran said Kenny Irons is the No. 1 tailback and former Maryville High School standout Carl Stewart is the No. 1 F-back, the role Ronnie Brown played on the situations when he and Brown were on the field at the same time.

Spurrier Hot: During in the summer when South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier looked at his '05 schedule and saw a Sept. 18 game scheduled against Alabama, he thought heat might play a factor since CBS said months ago it would televise the game with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

Spurrier told the SEC in the summer that he wanted Carolina to wear its white road jerseys, figuring they'd be cooler. On Saturday, the temperature was in the mid-90s, but the way Alabama pounded Carolina, 37-14, light or dark jerseys didn't really matter.

Pumped Up: Georgia seems to be coasting through games lately, mainly because of an uninteresting non-conference schedule.

The Bulldogs put a 44-7 beatdown on Louisiana-Monroe, but led just 17-7 early in the second half. Georgia was assessed 11 penalties and allowed Louisiana-Monroe to run 72 plays and hold the ball 36 minutes and 49 seconds.

"We can't be out there playing around," Georgia defensive tackle Kedric Golston said, "no matter who we are playing."

Maybe so. But it's hard to get pumped for such a pathetic opponent.

Senior center Russ Tanner said it best. "You can't have artificial enthusiasm."

Gee Whiz: In the midst of Vanderbilt's 3-0 start comes this statement from Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee, the Don Quixote of SEC chancellors: "What has gratified me the most is the enthusiasm I have witnessed this week on campus and among our alumni and friends. No doubt that a winning team brings great credit to the university - especially when our team is also winning off the field and in the classroom."

Memo to Gordo: Your team has won for years off the field and in the classroom, and nobody went to your games.

Hurting Kentucky: Raise your hand if you think Kentucky is done for the year. The 1-2 Wildcats, with 21 injured players missing a Sunday practice following a loss at Indiana, might be ready to play out the string.

Even the coaches aren't agreeing.

After Kentucky coach Rich Brooks called for a reverse to open the Indiana game - which got stuffed for an 8-yard loss - offensive coordinator Joker Phillips said the offense was "too fancy" with the play-calling.

Brooks' reply: "I didn't think we were that fancy. Amazingly, in my coaching career, every time I've opened a game with a reverse, it's almost always worked."