LSU vs. Alabama Predictions: 5 Reasons Neither Team Will Repeat Next Season

The time for debate is over, because the day that college football fans have been anticipating for months has finally arrived.

Tonight, the two top teams in college football, LSU and Alabama, will battle it out on college football's biggest stage with the sport's most-coveted prize—the BCS national championship trophy—on the line. 

Whether you like the idea of a rematch in the BCS title game or not, there's no disputing that the Tigers and the Tide are the two most-talented teams in the country, and they both possess the type of playmakers to really put on a show down in New Orleans. 

As soon as the game is over, though, no matter who wins, the question, "Can they repeat?" will inevitably start to pop up as we begin to turn our attention to the 2012 season. 

It's a fair question to ask, given that these teams are so stacked, but here's a look at five reasons it's going to be tough for the winner of tonight's game to repeat as national champions next season.

History

In the past 13 years of the BCS era, there has never been a repeat winner of the championship game.

Florida and LSU are the only teams to win two BCS championships, but neither of them managed to win consecutive titles. 

Even though there have been a few championship winners that entered the following season ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls, no winner has ever been able to successfully defend its crown and stay atop the college football mountain for two years in a row. 

The SEC Will Be Even Stronger in 2012

The SEC West was college football's toughest single division this year, as it housed three of the top 10 teams in the country, LSU, Alabama and Arkansas, however, the conference as a whole went though a bit of a down year with teams like Auburn and Florida suffering through mediocre campaigns. 

Still, the SEC is set to once again dominate the preseason polls going into 2012, as there could be as many as five teams not named LSU or Alabama that could earn a spot in the first Top 25.

South Carolina, Georgia and Auburn will all be in the mix to win the conference next season.

With the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri, two viable threats and the expected improvement from teams like Florida, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Kentucky, it's going to be almost impossible for any team to survive unscathed in the SEC in 2012.  

Both Teams Will Lose Key Pieces

Alabama may be the deepest team in all of college football, but that depth is certainly going to be put to the test in 2012, as the Tide are set to lose a ton of key pieces to the NFL after tonight's game. 

We already know reliable veterans like S Mark Barron, C William Vlachos, LB Courtney Upshaw, DT Josh Chapman and WR Marquis Maze will all be playing their final collegiate game tonight.

And then you've also got underclassmen stars like RB Trent Richardson, LB Dont'a Hightower, CB Dre Kirkpatrick and S Robert Lester, who could all be playing in their final game as well before bolting early for the NFL. 

Since LSU is still so young on defense, the Tigers won't be feeling as many big hits as Alabama will.

Les Miles is still going to have some holes to fill, as his top two quarterbacks Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee will both be gone, as will his top tight end Deangelo Peterson, his All-American offensive guard Will Blackwell and two of his top four tacklers—safety Brandon Taylor and linebacker Ryan Baker. WR Rueben Randle and CB Mo Claiborne, two future high NFL draft picks, also could decide to leave for the NFL after tonight. 

With the way these two teams recruit, there are plenty of reinforcements waiting in the wings, but with so much talent set to exit both schools, there's obviously going to be some growing pains to be expected from both teams next year.

The Challengers

Next season, there will be no shortage of national title contenders that are ready to challenge either LSU or Alabama for college football's throne. 

USC, Oregon, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida State, Michigan, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, TCU, Georgia and others will all enter the 2012 season with national championship aspirations.

The winner of tonight's game is going to have to fend off plenty of hungry challengers next season if they even want to make it back to the BCS title game, and with so many worthy adversaries gunning for the No. 1 spot in the country, it's going to be tough for either LSU or Alabama to make it down to Miami next season.

Complacency

One of the biggest things working against a team that wins a national championship is the sense of complacency that surrounds the program. 

After hearing for months about how good you are, it's difficult for young players to find that same hunger and desire that they had the year before when they won a national championship. 

Just look at what happened to LSU and Alabama in the year following their previous national title runs. 

In 2008, the Tigers took a nosedive and finished with just an 8-5 record, with all five losses coming in the SEC. 

In 2010, Alabama finished with a respectable 10-3 record, but the Tide were out of the running for the national championship by the first week of November. 

Even though Nick Saban and Les Miles are two of the best coaches in college football, not even they can prevent a certain level of complacency that invades a program after a national championship game victory.

It's just a natural part of sports, and it's why we see so few repeat champions these days.