Believe it or not, it happened.

Alabama is the No. 1 team in America.

Ok, so the Associated Press poll didn’t have a bunch of stunning developments, but there were plenty of interesting nuggets from the first Top 25 that was based on actual games.

Let’s get right into them:

1. Florida isn’t quite Tom Petty

I expected the Gators to free fall (you knew where I was going) out of the AP Top 25, but they didn’t. They only fell five spots to No. 22. My question is simple.

Why?

Sure, the pick-sixes were nice plays, but what about the Gators’ performance led someone to believe that was a Top 25 team? Top 25 teams score offensive touchdowns. Florida was the only team in the Top 25 that failed to do that over the weekend.

Maybe voters were traveling to the Alabama-Florida State game when the Gators were getting destroyed by Michigan in the second half. Who knows? If Florida is going to keep its spot, it’ll have to actually play like a Top 25 team for 60 minutes.

2. Really, Notre Dame?

I’ll admit that I didn’t have Tennessee starting the season in the Top 25. The Vols did so anyway. So after being ranked No. 25 to start the season, why did they stay there and watch Notre Dame hurdle past them?

The Irish beat up on Temple at home. The Owls lost a ton of talent and were an inept offensive team to begin with. Did voters forget that Notre Dame was a four-win team a season ago?

Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The college football world gets so excited when a traditional power wins a game convincingly. We always want to declare those programs “back” — sup, Texas? — but beating Temple doesn’t mean a program is “back.”

Tennessee has gotten the benefit of the doubt in the polls plenty of times in the past couple years, but what did they did to rally and beat Georgia Tech on a neutral site (that’s debatable) was more impressive than what the Irish did at home against a Group of 5 team.

But who are we kidding? If the Irish really are a Top 25 team, we’ll find out Saturday when Georgia comes to South Bend.

3. SEC still leads the way

Speaking of Georgia, the Bulldogs were one of six SEC teams to earn spots in the Top 25. After a 3-0 weekend against the ACC, the SEC won the overall conference supremacy battle in the AP poll:

  • SEC: 6
  • ACC: 5
  • B1G: 4
  • Big 12: 4
  • Pac-12: 4

Who has the best argument against the SEC after Week 1? Probably the B1G, which got a win vs. the SEC in the only matchup between the two conferences. With Michigan all the way up to No. 8, the B1G owns four of the top nine spots in the poll.

The SEC is the only other conference with four teams ranked inside the top 15. With Auburn and Georgia set up for their marquee non-conference matchups this weekend, the B1G could get some company in the top 10. Either way, we’ll enter the weekend with more than half of the teams in the top 15 from the B1G and the SEC.

Unfortunately, we might have to wait until bowl season to really answer the B1G vs. SEC debate in 2017.