BCS National Championship 2012: Forget Honey Badger, Brad Wing is LSU's MVP

With the national championship just days away, it's about that time to look ahead to some of the key players participating in the big game.

LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu is receiving all of the hype heading into the game, but there is another key player that could possibly be the most valuable to the Tigers. His name is Brad Wing and he is the punter for LSU.

Yes, the punter is probably the most valuable player to a team in the national championship game. A team that went undefeated, averaged 38 points on offense and allowed less than 11 points.

Tyrann Mathieu was a Heisman candidate and made big play after big play on defense and special teams. He led the team with 71 tackles, had 1.5 sacks, two interceptions and returned a few punts back for a touchdown.

The punt returns came at crucial points in the game as well, as the Tigers started the game off very sloppy. The touchdown returns gave the team a spark and really created a snowball effect as the team woke up and began playing SEC football.

Brad Wing is just a regular punter at 6'3" and less than 200 pounds. That being said, he averages 44.1 yards a punt, which contributes to the 43 yards-per-punt average as a team. That's good enough for fifth-best in the SEC and 27th-best in the country.

Although those aren't shabby numbers, Wing won't get as much credit because punters aren't as flashy as the "Honey Badger" is. They don't score touchdowns and don't make flashy interceptions to get the crowd fired up. Instead, they kick the ball and play a game of field position.

If anything, fans don't even want to see the punter because they give the ball to the other team.

Mathieu is a great player, but he's able to be great because of the players around him. Blitzing the quarterback and trying to strip the ball instead of going for the sure sack shows just how good the players around him are. If he ends up missing the quarterback, somebody else will get him or the remaining members of the ball-hawk secondary will make a play.

He plays on a defense that is loaded from top to bottom with players that will be playing on Sundays.

Wing, on the other hand, is a valuable weapon for this team. He will be even more valuable in this game considering it will likely be a game of field position once again. If you don't have a punter that can flip the side of the field, you will likely lose this game. Special teams was the reason the Tigers won the game between Alabama last year and will likely play a big part in this game as well.

LSU has a punter that can make things much easier for their defense.

A punter is often not even considered part of the football team, but for the Tigers, he's the MVP of the season and will be the most important in this game.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]