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More AP Top 25 voters are buying into Boise State as the No. 1 team in the country.

Boise State gained seven first-place votes and closed in on No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Ohio State as the top three teams in the first regular-season Associated Press football poll held their spots from the preseason.

The Broncos remained third after a thrilling 33-30 victory against Virginia Tech on Monday night, receiving eight first-place votes and 1,399 points from the media panel, 13 points behind the Buckeyes.

Ohio State received four first-place votes and 1,412 points.

Alabama had 47 first-place votes, down seven from the preseason poll, and 1,484 points in the rankings released Tuesday.

TCU from the Mountain West Conference moved up two spots to No. 4, marking the first time since the Bowl Championship Series was implemented in 1998 that two teams from conferences without automatic BCS bids have been in the top five. Boise State is the defending Western Athletic Conference champion.

Texas remained No. 5 and received one first-place vote.

In the USA Today coaches’ poll, only Alabama (55) and Ohio State (four) received first-place votes.

via Boise State Broncos pick up 7 first-place votes in AP poll – ESPN.

TUSCALOOSA | Figure the University of Alabama was going to keep it simple in its opener against San Jose State? Thought Nick Saban didn’t want to give anything away to JoePa and the Penn State Nittany Lions?

Turned out the top-ranked Crimson Tide’s approach to its season opener was just the opposite: Alabama’s offense showed enough wrinkles and twists to keep legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno and his staff busy dissecting the Tide attack to get ready for next weekend’s showdown.

Some of it was brand new. Some of it wasn’t, but was tweaked in a different way. Almost all of it was effective in UA’s 48-3 victory as Alabama rolled to 591 yards in total offense.

“We were playing football out there,” said wideout Darius Hanks. “You’ve got to throw the ball. You can’t just run the ball every play. We’ve got to open it up for the running game.

“Teams know what we’re going to do. They’ve all watched our films from last year.”via Tide adds a few twists to the offense | TideSports.com.

Join me and co-host Lee Shirvanian from 6 to 9 a.m. on Friday on 105.5 FM WNSP.

Scheduled for the show:

Bill Cole of the Winston-Salem Journal joins us at 7:20 a.m. to preview the LSU-North Carolina game and also give us the latest on Marvin Austin.

Also on the show:

At 7:05 a.m., South Alabama coach Joey Jones.

Laura Megginson of Two Chicks and Lee at 7:45 a.m. for our Auburn report.

We’ll also qualify you to win in our weekly football picks.

To join the show, call 251-694-1055 or listen live at www.wnsp.com.

Statement from Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban

We respect the decision but we are at the same time disappointed in the suspension. We’ll continue to support Marcell as we move forward. Hopefully Marcell and all involved have learned a valuable lesson from this and like I’ve said before, we will continue to work on establishing stronger legislation in terms of agent and financial advisor guidelines.

Statement from Mike Ward

University of Alabama Associate A.D. – Compliance

 We are appreciative of the NCAA’s efforts in this matter.  It is important to note that Marcell never intentionally violated any NCAA rules and did not knowingly receive any benefits from an agent.  Marcell lived up to the letter and spirit of the NCAA cooperative principle and the NCAA described him as “one of the most truthful student-athletes we have ever interviewed.”  While the institution weighs the decision to appeal, we will continue to pursue all available means to protect our student-athletes and their families from agents and financial advisors willing to compromise or exploit them.  We will assist the NCAA, NFL, NFLPA, and any interested state and federal regulatory bodies in their prosecution, regulation, or sanctioning of individuals who disregard legislation pertaining to our student-athletes.

University of Alabama football student-athlete Marcell Dareus must miss two games and repay benefits as a condition of becoming eligible to play again, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. Mr. Dareus must repay the $1787.17 of benefits to a charity of his choice.

The university declared the student-athlete ineligible for violations of NCAA preferential treatment and agent benefits rules. According to the facts of the case submitted by Alabama, these benefits included airfare, lodging, meals and transportation during two trips to Miami, Florida.

During the reinstatement process, the NCAA staff considers a number of factors including guidelines established by the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, the student-athlete’s responsibility for the violation, as well as any mitigating factors presented by the university.

Based on the mitigating circumstances in the case, the staff reduced the withholding from a potential four games to two competitions.

The university can appeal the decision to the Division I NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, an independent committee comprised of representatives from NCAA member colleges, universities and athletic conferences. This committee can reduce or remove the condition, but it cannot increase the staff-imposed conditions. If appealed, the student-athlete will remain ineligible until the conclusion of the appeals process.

TUSCALOOSA — The streak no longer is measured in games. It’s measured in years.

The last time the Alabama defense al­lowed an individual to rush for 100 or more yards, “CSI” was at the top of the Nielsen ratings, “Why Did I Get Mar­ried?” was the hit movie, “Soulja Boy (Crank That)” topped the Bill­board chart and the Dow was near an all-time high at 14,093.

That was three years and 34 games ago. The date was Oct. 13, 2007. The opponent was Ole Miss. The individual was BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who ran for 131 yards.

In each of the past two seasons, Alabama has ranked No. 2 in the na­tion in rushing defense, allowing 74.1 yards per game in 2008 and 78.1 last season. Only six teams have rushed for at least 100 yards. The Tide has held 15 of its past 28 opponents to less than 70 yards rushing.

Two-time All-America nose guard Terrence Cody and 2009 Butkus Award-winning middle linebacker Rolando McClain are gone, along with seven other starters from the defense that led Alabama to an undefeated 2009 season and a national championship.

Can the reinforcements stuff the run as well as a unit that allowed only 10 rushing touchdowns in the past two seasons combined?

via Tide believes it has the right stuff to continue to stifle opponents’ rushing attacks | al.com.

Alabama’s Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Mark Ingram underwent arthroscopic surgery this morning on his left knee, according to a statement by Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.

Ingram will be out for Saturday’s game against San Jose State and evaluated on a week-to-week basis after that. Alabama hosts Penn State on Sept. 11 and visits Duke on Sept. 18.

“It was a situation where everyone involved thought it would be better to take care of now, so he would not have any issues with it later in the season,” Saban said.

Ingram, a junior, hurt his knee late in practice on Monday. Saban said this morning’s minor surgery was successful and performed by Dr. Lyle Cain and Dr. James Andrews.

The normal recovery for a knee scope is a few weeks.

“We have full confidence in our medical staff and we know the doctors and athletic trainers will do an outstanding job in taking care of Mark and assisting him in his rehab,” Saban said.

“Mark will definitely be out for this week’s game against San Jose State and we will manage this on a week to week basis beyond this week. We will make every decision in the future based on what’s best for Mark and his career as we consult with Dr. Cain and Dr. Andrews on his progress. This is not an injury that will affect Mark’s future ability to make a full recovery.”

via Mark Ingram undergoes minor knee surgery, to miss San Jose State game | al.com.

Join Mark Heim and Lee Shirvanian from 6 to 9 a.m. on Monday.

Guests include:

6:35 a.m. Scott Phelps, coach at Robertsdale

7:20 Erik Stinnett of CrimsonConfidential.com

7:35 Brian Matthews of AuburnUndercover.com

8:05 a.m. Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com

8:20 a.m. Bradley Handwerger of wwltv.com

8:35 a.m. John Rachiatti on golf

To join the show, call  251-694-1055.

TUSCALOOSA — Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was a classic, but who remembers his sixth?

“Mona Lisa” was a masterpiece, but who talks about da Vinci’s subsequent paintings?

So appreciate the predicament of the 2010 Alabama football team as it is called on for an encore to a blockbuster 2009 season. How can the Crimson Tide improve on perfection? As this very talented but very different team tries to repeat, there’s nowhere to go but . . . sideways.

A national championship is a tough enough act to follow. Success doesn’t get better than 14-0. A second consecutive undefeated season might be unrealistic.

Since 1956, only Nebraska has been a perfect champ for two consecutive seasons (1994-95).

Will the Tide match that feat this season? Not quite.

Let’s look into the crystal ball that Alabama brought home from Pasadena, Calif. The Tide, which opens the season ranked No. 1, will suffer a midseason loss but end the season at No. 1 again.

The irony is that this 13-1 team might be better than that 14-0 team.

The 2009 champs had a good offense, good special teams and a great defense.

The 2010 Tide will start with a good defense, average special teams and a great offense. It will finish with a great defense, a great offense and good special teams. In between, it will stumble once.

via Encore? Crimson Tide will lose once, but expect another national championship | al.com.

TUSCALOOSA — When Trent Richard­son was a football star in high school, he returned kick­offs.

Check that: He lined up in po­sition to return kickoffs. And he hoped.

“I love kickoff returns,” Ala­bama’s standout sophomore running back said. “I didn’t really get to return none in high school, because they all kicked away from me. But when I did, I always ran them back.”

Always? At the very least, of­ten.

In the second game of his sophomore season in 2006 at Es­cambia High School in Pensa­cola, Fla., Richardson returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against Washington High School. Late in his junior season, Rich­ardson returned a kickoff 100 yards in a loss to Pine Forest.

In the third game of his senior season, Richardson returned a kickoff 90 yards for a fourth­quarter touchdown that helped make the difference in a five­point victory. Pace High had just taken a 16-14 lead.

“You can’t just put the ball in Trent’s hands in any way,” Jimmy Nicholls, Escambia’s head coach at the time, told the Pensacola News-Journal after the game. “I’m telling you, be­cause more times than not, you’ll pay for it.”

It appears Richardson will get a chance to return kickoffs this season for Alabama.

via Tide’s Richardson looks forward to many happy returns | al.com.