Alabama vs. LSU: Crimson Tide Will Ruin LSU's Quest for Perfection

We have it all wrong. This is a fairy tale season for Alabama and not LSU. 

LSU began the what seemed to be a fairy tale with a dramatic win against Oregon. You simply can't start a season better than proving the preseason hype was very much real with a drubbing of a top-10 opponent. 

The story then took an emotional and vital turn with a victory over the Crimson Tide. Alabama was supposed to spoil what had been a perfect season. Instead, missed field goals and other gaffes did in Alabama. 

LSU continued to spoil its supporters with the hopes of going wire-to-wire as the best program in the nation. Well, Alabama was destined to spoil things; we were just a couple months off schedule in predicting it. 

Make no mistake, one team will leave the Superdome as champions. We will know at that point that this was the season for Alabama to play the ultimate in spoilers, and that LSU was actually playing in a season destined to turn into a nightmare. 

Alabama will be playing with a chip on the their shoulder the size of an entire Crimson Tide nation. They will not let a game they very much had in hand get away once again. 

In fact, it is almost unfair to ask LSU to beat a team like Alabama twice to get a national championship. You just don't beat Nick Saban twice in one season. 

That is what faces Les Miles heading into a game that has some rather odd subplots. An Alabama win would usher in a new tint to the perennial BCS controversy.

The Tigers will have had to figure out and thwart a defense that is just as good as their own. No team, even the best, should have to go through such a trial by fire. Yet such is life for the best in college football. 

If you want to hold the title, you may have to go through some very ridiculous hoops to get there. 

The Tide is rolling in, and they have the NFL-size talent on defense to make this an ugly game once again. We saw what the first part had for us in an Alabama win that got away. 

They won't let it slip through their hands on Monday night. 

Follow @gabezal