For the second straight year and the third time in the past four years, the Alabama Crimson Tide has been voted No. 1 in the season's final Legends Poll.

Notre Dame did its part. The Irish knocked off USC on Saturday and earned a spot in January's BCS championship game.

But even though Notre Dame finished the regular season unbeaten and even though it received more first place votes (10) than Alabama (7), Alabama edged out Notre Dame for the No. 1 spot in the Legends Poll.

It’s been a long road back, but Notre Dame has risen to the top of the Legends Poll for the first time ever.

And the top-ranked Irish are one win away from their first ever trip to the BCS championship game.

After surviving in a thriller at LSU, Alabama proved once again it’s worthy of the No. 1 ranking in the Legends Poll.

Trailing by three with just over a minute left in the game, quarterback AJ McCarron was able to lead Alabama down the field, and connected with running back T.J. Yeldon for the go-ahead score.

The Crimson Tide received all 17 first-place votes for the seventh straight week.

In the seven-year history of the Legends Poll, fifth-ranked Notre Dame had never been ranked in the top 5.

That streak ended this week as the Fighting Irish and Kansas State made their first ever top 5 appearances in the Legends Poll rankings. Both teams improved to 6-0 and benefited from a second straight week of upsets.

The top seven teams in the Legends Poll remained unchanged this week, setting the table for a top 10 SEC showdown next week at South Carolina.

Oregon and Florida State jumped over LSU in the Legends Poll rankings this week after the Tigers struggled to remain unbeaten at Auburn.

Second-ranked Oregon ran away from Arizona, 49-0, which landed the Ducks one spot behind No. 1 Alabama.