BCS Rankings 2011: An LSU-Alabama National Title Game Is a Real Possibility

College Football’s first official BCS rankings were released last night, and to no one’s surprise, the SEC’s two powerhouse programs, LSU and Alabama, topped the standings, with LSU narrowly edging out its division counterpart for the No. 1 spot.

The Tigers and the Tide, who both stand at 7-0 on the season, are the two most deserving teams in college football, and you won’t be able to find any stronger resumes at this point in the season.

LSU already has four wins over ranked opponents, and the Tigers have not only survived college football’s most grueling first-half schedule, they’ve thrived, dominating their competition.

Alabama, on the other hand, has three wins over ranked opponents, and the Tide currently have the top-ranked defense in the country.

Although there are still ten undefeated teams left in college football right now, it's easy to say that these two teams are just a cut above the rest.

Before the season started, everyone knew that Alabama and LSU had the potential to dominate this year, but first they both had to prove that they had quarterbacks that could lead them to the promised land.

From what we’ve seen so far, though, that should no longer be a concern for either team.

It took longer than expected for A.J. McCarron to win the starting quarterback job at Alabama, but now that he has, he’s stepped into the role and really opened eyes with his consistent and steady play.

The sophomore signal-caller has completed 67 percent of his passes, gone into two hostile environments at Penn State and Florida and gotten the job done, and remarkably, he hasn’t tossed an interception since Week 1.

Yes, the Alabama offense still goes through powerful workhorse running back Trent Richardson, but McCarron is maturing into a valuable offensive leader.

At LSU, Jarrett Lee has surprised many onlookers by really elevating his game after being thrown into the fire when starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson was suspended right before the start of the season.

Jefferson has since returned, but it looks like coach Les Miles knows exactly how to effectively balance out a two-quarterback system, and luckily for Miles, his two quarterbacks’ skill-sets complement each other perfectly.

Now that the two teams have found the quarterback help they needed, it’s really tough to find many weaknesses or flaws in either of these two squads.

Both have tenacious and supremely talented defenses with future pros all over the field, and they also have the offensive firepower to scare away any opponent.

That’s what could make the Nov. 5 battle between these two teams so memorable.

It’s shaping up to be one of the most hyped up regular season college football games in years.

The only problem is, one team won’t survive.

It begs the question, then, that if these teams really are the two best in college football, could we possibly see a rematch in the national title game?

It seems unlikely, but it's not exactly out of the question.

If the regular season showdown turns out to be as good as everyone expects, and maybe even a classic, why wouldn’t you want to see a rematch on college football’s biggest stage with the sport's biggest prize on the line?

I’d love to see the home-field advantage get taken out of the equation and just see these two teams go at it on a neutral field down in New Orleans.

Some would surely be turned off by the idea, but if the circumstances end up dictating a rematch, I say let’s do it.

It would take a few strange scenarios and a lot of top-ranked teams losing to make it happen, but in the end, it may actually be great for college football.

The BCS has always said it strives to put the two best teams in the title game every year.

Well, if Alabama and LSU are the two best teams, then what’s the problem?

We’ve seen recent instances over the past few years when No. 1 and No. 2 teams have met late in the regular season, such as back in 2009 and 2008 when Florida and Alabama met in the SEC Championship game and back in 2006 when Michigan and Ohio State met for a chance to play in the national championship—however, we’ve always seen the loser get shut out in the cold.

Maybe this year will be different, though.

If Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both slip up, I would personally rather see a one-loss Alabama or LSU team in the big game than an undefeated Boise State team, or an undefeated Wisconsin team or an undefeated Stanford team.

We’ll have to see how it all plays out in the second half of the season, but as it stands now, don’t rule out the idea of a possible LSU-Alabama rematch in the national title game.