Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was named Tuesday as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Assistant Coach of the Year.

Smart, in his sixth season on the Alabama staff, won the Broyles Award in 2009 as the top assistant coach in college football. His Alabama defense is ranked first nationally in scoring defense and second nationally in total defense.

His defenses have helped Alabama win two BCS national titles in the past four years, and five of his defenders earned All-America honors in 2011. Smart has had six players become first-round NFL draft picks in the past three years.

Off the field, Smart has been involved in various fundraising activities as a member of the Alabama coaching staff. He participates in Nick’s Kids, an organization in which head coach Nick Saban and his wife Terry have raised more than $2 million for area youth charities over the past five years. Smart participated in tornado relief efforts after the devastating storms in April of 2011. He helped set up a fund to help the son-in-law and grandchildren of former Alabama coach Joe Kines following a car accident that killed Kines’ daughter.

Each year, staff representatives from NCAA and NAIA football-playing schools are asked to nominate an assistant for consideration. From those nominations, a winner is selected by the AFCA Public Relations Committee. The winners of this award were selected from Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and the NAIA.

The Assistant Coach of the Year award was first presented in 1997 and was created to honor assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA professional organization involvement.

The criteria for the award are not limited to on-field coaching ability or the success of the team and players that these assistant coaches work with. Service to the community through charitable work and other volunteer activities, participation in AFCA activities and events, participation in other professional organizations and impact on student-athletes are all taken into account in the selection process.

After everything that happened over the weekend, our power rankings didn't really change heading into the final week of the regular season:

1. Alabama (10-1; last week: 1): The Tide didn't have much competition lining up opposition over the weekend, but Alabama took care of business in dominating fashion. Then the team watched as Kansas State and Oregon lost, propelling the Tide back into the BCS title game hunt. Beat Auburn and Georgia, and Alabama is headed back to the national championship. Well played, Nick Saban.

2. Georgia (10-1; LW: 2): Georgia Southern and its triple-option offense really wasn't much of a threat to the Bulldogs, who are right in the thick of the national championship picture. Georgia is playing its best football of the year and it couldn't have come at a better time. A win over Georgia Tech this weekend, and the Bulldogs will be playing for a national championship berth when they face Alabama in the SEC championship game. Remember when all those Georgia "fans" were calling for Mark Richt's job? Yeah, you can sit down now.

3. Florida (10-1; LW: 3): The Gators don't win pretty, but somehow they are 10-1. Two FCS foes really challenged the Gators, but what's even crazier is that with a win over Florida State this weekend, Florida will be headed to a BCS bowl game and if Notre Dame loses, the Gators could be headed to the national championship. The Gators are where they are thanks to a fabulous defense and tremendous special teams. But if Florida wants to have a chance against the Noles, the offense has to be much, much better and it will really help if quarterback Jeff Driskel can come back healthy this week.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The unthinkable has happened, again. For the second consecutive season, the University of Alabama is benefiting from a late shakeup in the top three of the BCS Standings.

Only a week after losing a game and falling from No. 1 to No. 4 in the BCS, Alabama is back in the title hunt. Former No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon dropped out of the top 5 with losses on Saturday night, opening the door for the Crimson Tide to move up to No. 2 in the newest BCS standings, just behind unbeaten Notre Dame.

If Alabama (10-1, 7-1) beats Auburn (3-8, 0-7) this weekend, a battle with No. 3 Georgia (10-1, 7-1) would be the only obstacle separating the Crimson Tide from a trip to Miami for the BCS National Championship Game.

No. 6 Kansas State's 28-point loss to Baylor on Saturday likely cost the Wildcats a shot at the title game. Bill Snyder's team still maintains wins over a pair of top-15 teams in Oklahoma and West Virginia, but the way it lost to unranked Baylor was a big blow to the team's reputation as a contender.

No. 5 Oregon's argument for a title shot hinges on its hope for a berth in the Pac 12 Championship Game where it could add another win over a ranked team to its resume. If No. 8 Stanford beats No. 17 UCLA, Oregon would be shut out of the conference title game.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- University of Alabama freshman running back Kenyan Drake did not compete in Saturday's 49-0 win over Western Carolina because of a suspension for violation of team rules, according to coach Nick Saban.

Drake, who is third on the team in rushing yards (206) and rushing touchdowns (5), was not allowed to dress out for the game.

"It wasn’t anything that was really significant or bad, but it happened once before, he was told if he did it again that he wouldn’t dress for the game," Saban said. "It is what it is. It would have been great to have him out there today -- he would have gotten a lot of playing time."

In his absence, former H-back Brent Calloway made the most of mop-up duty, running for 52 yards on seven carries. Alabama's running back corps had already taken two hits this season when both Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart went down with season-ending injuries. Both were listed above Drake on the depth chart to start the season.

It was the first game Drake had missed all season and Saban expressed hope that it won't be a recurring occurrence.

"We think he is a good person and are certainly excited about his future, but he also has to learn that if you don’t do the right thing, there are consequences for it," he said.