S. Carolina 0 - 3 Alabama (10:32 left in 1st Quarter)

Alabama took the opening kickoff, drove steadily down the field until their drive stalled at the Carolina 15, and then kicked an easy field goal.

S. Carolina 0 - 0 Alabama (14:53 left in 1st Quarter)

It's 84 degrees in Columbia, and another UCFC game is under way!

S. Carolina v. Alabama

ESPN has taken College Gameday to Columbia, South Carolina -- an unusual compliment for a game that will be televised on CBS. It should be a pretty good game. The Gamecocks are number 19 in the country, they are at home, and they have had two weeks to get ready. Alabama, on the other hand, is playing its third game in three weeks against a ranked opponent.

South Carolina only joined the SEC in 1992, and the Gamecocks have always been in a different division from Alabama, so this game doesn't get played all that often. In fact, this is only the 15th matchup all-time between South Carolina and Alabama -- the Tide leads the all-time series 12-2.

South Carolina

As befits a team with an all-time record of only 506-509-42, the Gamecocks have not been very successful in UCFC competitions. Their record is only 3-11, and their only success occurred during the bizarre 1989 season.

When that season began, the UCFC was held by Florida State, one of the great powers of that time. But on September 2, 1989, FSU suffered one of the all-time legendary UCFC upsets, losing to Southern Mississippi 30-26, due to a remarkable performance by the Southern Miss quarterback, Brett Favre. But Southern Miss immediately lost the title to Mississippi State, who immediately lost it to Georgia, who immediately lost it to South Carolina -- making September 1989 one of the very few months (if not the only month) in which five different teams held the UCFC. South Carolina actually defended the title for two more weeks -- beating East Carolina and Western Carolina -- before they lost the title to N.C. State. They have never gotten it back.

Alabama 31 - 6 Florida (Final)

So that turned out to be easier than expected, in large part because turnovers killed any chance Florida had to get going or to be competitive. They will be much tougher to beat in the SEC Championship. Having said that, it is very impressive that in this game -- which was a revenge game for Florida -- Alabama was able to play this well despite coming off of what had to have been an exhausting game in Arkansas.

Florida's record in UCFC games falls to 23-14.

Alabama defends its title for the sixth time; the Tide runs its record in all UCFC games to 29-12. It should be noted that Alabama's six defenses include wins over Texas, Penn State and Florida. They will next defend the crown on Saturday, October 9 when they travel to Columbia to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. This will be Alabama's third game in three weeks against a ranked opponent.

Alabama 31 - 6 Florida (6:10 left in 3d Quarter)

Alabama took the kickoff and couldn't really do much, but their punt was downed at the Florida 1. This did not intimidate the Gators who quickly moved out to their own 36. At this point, however, the roof fell in. Under pressure, the Florida quarterback tried a short pass -- which was picked off (Alabama's third interception of the game) and returned for a touchdown.

This is really a remarkable score. Since September 27, 2008, Florida has a record of 27-1 (27-2 if they lose tonight). But Alabama beat them last year 32-13, and now they are beating them again, 31-6. I still think Florida is likely to get a rematch in the SEC Championship game -- and they will be much more dangerous there. Nevertheless, this is the first team to give Urban Meyer this sort of trouble since he entered the SEC. It will be interesting to see how he responds.

Alabama 24 - 6 Florida (10:23 left in 3d Quarter)

Florida did get the opening kickoff of the second half, and marched promptly down the field -- but stalled at the 3. So they kicked another field goal.