The Tide began the first BCS poll this season one spot higher than where it finished in the final poll of 2011. Florida, which lost six games in 2011, jumped past Oregon (No. 2 in the coaches and Harris Poll) on the strength of its No. 1 computer ranking.

That ranking has a lot to do with Florida’s schedule the first half of the season. No one has better wins this fall than the Gators, who have won on the road at No.18 Texas A&M,Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Florida also has a home victory 

over No. 6 LSU.

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The Gators, who play host to No. 7 South Carolina this weekend, still have games remaining against No. 11 Georgia, No. 14 Florida State and a potential matchup with Alabama (or LSU) in the SEC Championship Game.

A breakdown of the first poll:

No.6 LSU. The Tigers have dealt with significant injuries on the offensive line (the foundation of their offense), and have still found a way to stay in striking distance. LSU has a brutal road ahead at No. 18 Texas A&M, No.1 Alabama, No. 12 Mississippi State and a possible SEC Championship Game but can still win out and be the highest ranked one-loss team. If the Tigers get more production from QB Zach Mettenberger, they can beat anyone.

No. 4 Notre Dame. That Michigan State win looks worse every week. And the Michigan and Purdue victories? Well, the Big Ten doesn’t have a team ranked in the top 25 for the first time in BCS poll history. In other words, if the Irish are going to make a statement, it’s going to be in big road games against Oklahoma and USC.

No. 14 Florida State. If you’re in the SEC, you’re allowed a mulligan. If you’re in the ACC, your season is essentially finished unless chaos takes over. This is purely an eye-test statement: FSU is much better than half the teams in front of it. The problem is, coach Jimbo Fisher got conservative and the ‘Noles blew a game at N.C. State. Now it’s going to take a huge run of blowouts (such as Saturday’s rout of Boston College) and a big win over (preferably unbeaten) Florida to make it all work out.

No. 1 Alabama.  That’s right, I’m saying it. It’s not all the Tide’s fault; the first half of the schedule has been cake, and two teams that were expected to be top-10 material aren’t even close (Michigan and Arkansas). Fortunately, things begin to get tougher in two weeks with back-to-back games against unbeaten No. 12 Mississippi State and No. 6 LSU. Win those two and remove all doubt.

No. 2 Florida. Look, the Gators have one of the best wins of the season against LSU, and they’re 3-0 on the road in the toughest league in the nation. But at some point the lack of a downfield passing game is going to become an issue. It may be this week against South Carolina in Gainesville, or in two weeks against Georgia, or late November at Florida State, or maybe against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. But it’s coming. The best thing that could have happened to the Gators this week: they’re No. 2, and there’s plenty of complaining about an unworthy Florida team. Translation: motivation.

No. 3. Oregon.  See a trend here? The first three all have serious questionsand that means we’re in for a whole lot of funky over the next six weeks. The Ducks’ schedule has been awful, and they were hammered by the computer polls (highest rank third; lowest rank 10th). The Ducks still must play No. 10 USC (maybe twice) and No. 20 Stanford. Those two games and how they win (if they winwill be critical. Because they could be fighting with Notre Dame for one of the two spots, and USC and Stanford will be common games.