Alabama

DALLAS -- The Alabama defense did its job against the Texas Tech offense. So did Brodie Croyle and the Crimson Tide offense. Kicker Jamie Christensen didn't -- until it mattered most. Shaking off a miss from 39 yards and a block from 38, Christensen barely made a low, spinning line drive from a career-best 45 yards as time expired, giving No. 13 Alabama a 13-10 victory over No. 18 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl yesterday. The entire stadium went silent as Christensen's kick headed toward the bottom left corner of the goalpost.

Alabama won its first women's golf title Friday, holding off two-time champ Southern California by a stroke on the 72nd hole in the NCAA Division I championship. Oklahoma's Chirapat Jao-Javanil won the individual title by four strokes, closing with a 2-under 70 to finish at 6-under 282. The Crimson Tide gave coach Mic Potter his first national title and first for a program in its seventh trip to the national tournament when senior Brooke Pancake rolled in a 4-footer for par on No. 18. It's the third national title this year for Alabama, which also won in football and women's...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 1 LSU gained the inside track to the BCS title game, beating No. 2 Alabama, 9-6, last night on Drew Alleman's 25-yard field goal in overtime after a fierce defensive struggle in which neither team reached the end zone. The Crimson Tide missed four field goals, including Cade Foster's 52-yard attempt after Alabama got the ball first in the extra period. LSU appeared to win the game on Michael Ford's run around left end after taking a pitch, but he stepped out of bounds at the 7. After two plays gained nothing, LSU (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference)

Alabama's double-digit lead dwindled on the back nine, and the Crimson Tide finished with a two-stroke lead over Southern California on Thursday after the third round of the NCAA Division I women's championship. Oklahoma's Chirapat Jao-Javanil shot a 2-under 70 for a share of the individual lead with Arizona State's Giulia Molinaro at 4-under 212. Molinaro had a 72 on a day where only three players shot under par. The Crimson Tide entered the third round with an 11-stroke lead, and that grew to 15 strokes with Alabama's No. 5 seeded player, Courtney McKim, in the fairway on No. 17....

SHREVEPORT, La. - John Parker Wilson completed 13 of his first 15 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns and Alabama raced to a four-touchdown lead, then held off Colorado, 30-24, in the Independence Bowl last night. Colorado's attempt at a multi-lateral play as time expired collapsed shy of midfield, ending the game. Alabama (7-6) stopped a four-game losing streak and avoided consecutive losing seasons for the first time in 50 years. Colorado (6-7) finished below .500 for the second straight year, but was vastly improved from a 2-10 mark in 2006.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- With an immovable defense and one big play by JaMarcus Russell and Dwayne Bowe, No. 5 LSU bounced Alabama from the national title picture and asserted itself as a dark horse contender. The Tigers ended the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide's hopes for a perfect season with a 16-13 overtime victory yesterday, culminating a gutsy comeback with Russell's ad-libbed 11-yard touchdown pass to Bowe. "It definitely turned out to be the SEC showdown everyone thought it would be," LSU offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said.

By Joe Sullivan, Globe Staff Five on the rise: Alabama: The Crimson Tide were dominant in Puerto Rico, beating Maryland, Wichita State, and Purdue. Northwestern: Could this be the season? Will the Mildcats reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time? I say the answer is yet after Northwestern beat LSU, Tulsa and Seton Hall to win a better-than-on-paper Charleston tournament. New Mexico State: The Aggies are 3-0 with two big rivalry victories over New Mexico and Texas El Paso.

A new national study says a two-parent family of four living at the federal poverty line pays more state income tax in Alabama than in any other state. The study released Tuesday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said a family of four in Alabama that made the federal poverty level of $22,314 paid $498 in Alabama income taxes last year. The next closest states were Hawaii at $292 and Georgia at $238. Alabama also ranked No. 1 for a single-parent family of three making the federal poverty line of $17,374.

ATLANTA - Swine flu infections continue to drop, and only one state, Alabama, was reporting widespread cases last week. Four states had widespread cases the previous week. The number has been dropping since October, when nearly all states had widespread flu reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported yesterday that there are no signs of seasonal flu now, only the swine variety. But CDC officials noted there is still more flu around than normally seen at this time of year, and illnesses could increase as children return to school after the holiday...

NEW YORK — Alabama will start this season where it ended last season. The Crimson Tide are on top. Coach Nick Saban has the Tide rolling, and they are first in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time since 1978. Alabama received 54 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,491 points to easily outdistance second-ranked Ohio State in the Top 25 poll, which was released yesterday. The Buckeyes, who have been ranked no lower than 11th in the last eight preseason polls, received three first-place votes.

The Times-Picayune, one of the nation's oldest newspapers, will no longer offer print editions seven days a week and instead plans to offer three printed issues a week starting in the fall. The change means New Orleans would become the largest metro area in the nation without a daily newspaper in the digital age. The changes announced Thursday were combined with similar moves at three major Alabama daily newspapers also owned by the Newhouse family group's Advance Publications.

Alabama finished the opening round by grabbing a two-stroke lead over Virginia, and Portland Rosen shot a Cavaliers' school-record 6-under 66 in near perfect conditions in the morning to lead the individual standings Tuesday at the NCAA Division I women's golf championship. The Crimson Tide, ranked second nationally by GolfStat, finished with a 2-under 286 led by a 4 under by senior Brooke Pancake. But Alabama only finished with the lead after Elizabeth Brightwell of Virginia was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard about three hours after...

An Alabama fan pleaded not guilty Monday to committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS national title game, which was caught on video. Brian H. Downing, 32, of Smiths Station, Ala., was arraigned on one count each of sexual battery of a male victim and obscenity. His attorney Michael Kennedy said he tried to get the bond reduced, but the judge left it at $50,000. A video that went viral on the Internet appeared to show someone in a University of Alabama jacket abusing the unconscious man after the Crimson Tide beat LSU for...

Federal regulators have seized a small bank in Alabama, bringing to 24 the number of U.S. banks that have failed so far this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it closed Alabama Trust Bank NA in Sylacauga. The bank had about $51.6 million in assets and $45.1 million in deposits as of March 31. Southern States Bank, based in Anniston, Ala., agreed to take over the deposits and essentially all the assets of the failed bank, which had one branch.

An American who serves as a commander with a Somali militant group says in a new autobiography that he had a "privileged" childhood in Alabama before he joined the al-Qaida linked militants. Omar Hammami, also known as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, says in his online diary released Wednesday that his "bad temperament" runs in his family and that he showed anger to his teachers when he was in kindergarten. He says he is releasing the first part of his autobiography now due to the "unpredictable nature" of jihad.

Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway has started after a rain delay of about 45 minutes. The rain had stopped before the scheduled start, but it takes roughly two hours to dry the Alabama race track. Talladega Superspeedway does not have lights. If the race does not get to the halfway point, which is 94 laps, NASCAR would have to return Monday to make it an official event.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Alabama's attorney general questioned the US Justice Department's legal authority to get enrollment data about all students in many Alabama school districts as part of its federal lawsuit challenging the state's tough new immigration law. Attorney General Luther Strange sent a letter to the Justice Department yesterday asking to be told by tomorrow what legal authority the department had for the information. "Otherwise, I will assume you have none, and will proceed accordingly," the Republican attorney general wrote.

Tennessee introduced Dave Hart as its new vice chancellor and athletic director on Monday night. Hart has worked since August 2008 at his alma mater Alabama, one of the Volunteers' top rival programs, where he served as executive director of athletics assisting Alabama athletic director Mal Moore. Previously he spent 12 years as Florida State's athletic director. "I want this to be perfectly clear: I am absolutely and totally committed to the University of Tennessee," Hart said at a news conference Monday night.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has signed legislation designed to make it easier for businesses to handle tax filings. Bentley said Thursday that the law will eliminate the need for any business with multiple locations to file tax returns in multiple cities and counties. Instead, they can use a single filing system to handle all sales, use and rental tax returns and make their payments. The state Department of Revenue will administer the system and distribute the filings and payments to the appropriate cities and counties.

(Photo courtesy of South Boston Youth Ambassadors) Ryan Miller (left) and Taylor Kimball clearing property damaged by a tornado in Tuscaloosa, Ala. By Adam Sennott, Globe Correspondent While most students spend their spring breaks sleeping in and hanging out with friends, 10 South Boston teens were in Alabama recently helping rebuild communities damaged by tornados last year. The South Boston Youth Ambassadors traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for their fourth annual community service trip to help affected communities.