A Waiting Game for Alabama : College football: Crimson Tide beats Florida, 28-21, for SEC title and Sugar Bowl bid. Will No. 1 Miami will be there, too?

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —  Alabama won a game, a conference title and a Sugar Bowl bid Saturday, but did it win the hearts of enough fickle wire service voters to keep its No. 2 ranking and national championship hopes intact?

It depends. If you’re Crimson Tide Coach Gene Stallings, whose undefeated team squeaked by 12th-ranked Florida, 28-21, in the first Southeastern Conference championship game, the victory removed all doubts.

“That doesn’t even enter my mind,” said Stallings, who scoffed at the idea that enough Associated Press voters, whose rankings help determine the postseason matchups, would drop Alabama below third-rated Florida State. “We’re a football team that’s played a lot of tough teams. We’ll be No. 2.”

If you’re Florida Coach Steve Spurrier, whose Gators were beaten much worse by Florida State 10 days ago, the answer isn’t so simple. When asked where Alabama belongs in the polls, Spurrier offered a reluctant endorsement.

“I’ll let you guys do the AP baloney,” Spurrier said. “I’ll certainly vote (Alabama) up there . . . two or three. Probably two. Ah, I’ll vote them two.”

Spurrier has reason to hedge, as do the voters. Alabama won, but not convincingly. If not for a 22-second span late in the fourth quarter, when Florida quarterback Shane Matthews threw two interceptions, the Gators might have been making plane reservations to New Orleans for New Year’s Night.

Instead, Matthews’ first interception landed in the outstretched hands of Alabama cornerback Antonio Langham, who, with the score tied, 21-21, and only 3:16 to be played, returned it 27 yards for the deciding touchdown before 83,091 at Legion Field.

Twenty-two seconds later, Matthews watched in disbelief as another of his passes, this one tipped by linebacker Derrick Oden, cartwheeled into the open arms of linebacker Michael Rogers.

The first interception decided the game. The second one ended it.

“The ball hit me right in the hands, and it was history after that,” said Langham, who returned a similar pass Thanksgiving Day against Auburn for a touchdown.

Once in the end zone, Langham dropped the ball and began an impromptu celebration that didn’t end until Stallings waved his defense back to the sidelines. By then, Alabama star defensive end Eric Curry had scooped up the souvenir and lectured Langham on priorities.

“This ball belongs to you,” said Curry, who hid it near the bench and presented it to Langham at game’s end. The ball will go nicely with Langham’s most valuable player award.

The two interceptions ruined an otherwise productive day for Matthews, who completed 30 of 49 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Florida (8-4) gained 317 yards, the most given up by the No. 1-rated Crimson Tide defense this season.

“It was just one of those things where the split-second decision was a wrong one,” a glum Matthews said. “We played our best game of the year. I just feel so bad for the rest of the guys because it had to end that way.”

To listen to Spurrier, it shouldn’t have ended that way. Matthews’ pass should have been better thrown, he suggested. And third-string wide receiver Monty Duncan, Spurrier said, should have never allowed Langham such easy access to the ball.

“It’s one thing to get beat, and it’s one thing to give one away,” Spurrier said. “We’re disappointed to lose, but we’re really disappointed in the way it happened. Our guy’s got to step in front of the ball and make a fight for the ball.”

Spurrier was in a whiny mood all week. He wasn’t crazy about playing the game in Birmingham, which is less than an hour’s drive from the Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. He wasn’t happy about the pregame predictions, which were overwhelmingly in favor of the Crimson Tide. And he wasn’t thrilled with the bowl directors and SEC officials who made little secret of their desire to see Alabama, not Florida, in New Orleans.

“I thought we had a chance against (them) because of the way we matched up,” he said.

Spurrier was right. Alabama was ranked first nationally against the pass, but it had never been tested by the likes of Florida’s offense.

So Spurrier put together a game plan that featured shovel passes, quick outs, slant-ins and draw plays. On defense, Spurrier helped devise a plan that called for eight Gators on the line. It worked, too.

“We knew what we had to do today,” Florida defensive back Larry Kennedy said. “We had to take away their points and make them make mistakes. We let them have the big play, and they made us pay for it.”

Now what happens? AP voters, of which there are 62, have choices to make. They can keep Alabama No. 2 and, by doing so, keep a Crimson Tide vs. Miami matchup a reality. Or they can deem Alabama’s effort against Florida unsatisfactory and drop the Crimson Tide below the Seminoles. If that happens, Miami would play Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Alabama voters can claim the following: Their team is 12-0 . . . it played in a league considered better than the Atlantic Coast Conference, to which Florida State belongs . . . it won, case closed.

Not so fast, say those in favor of Florida State’s rise to No. 2. Their arguments: the Seminoles beat Florida, 45-24. Both games were played, for all intents and purposes, on the winner’s home field . . . if Florida State and Alabama met, Florida State would be favored . . . nobody is playing better football than the Seminoles these days . . . the only thing standing between Florida State and a perfect season is a missed field goal against No. 1-ranked Miami at the Orange Bowl.

The Crimson Tide and the rest of America will learn the answer this morning when the poll is released. After that, members of the bowl coalition, meeting in Atlanta, will make their final team selections.

Count on beads of perspiration for everyone involved: the alliance members, Florida State and, no matter what he says, Stallings.

* PROBABLE BOWL LINEUP: C10