LSU vs. Alabama: Why the BCS Championship Rematch Didn't Live Up to the Hype

The 2012 BCS National Championship Game is officially in the books, and the Alabama Crimson Tide are the national champions—at least according to the BCS.

There was a ton of discussion about whether or not Alabama even belonged playing in this game, but the Tide got the nod regardless of the arguments against a rematch—and proved that they belonged at least as much as any other team in the country.

But regardless of arguments for or against Alabama's bid to play in the title game, the performance by Alabama tonight against LSU really brings up more questions than it answered.

First, who do you honestly believe deserves the national championship this season?

Yes, Alabama was clearly the better team on Monday night, but the Crimson Tide played just five ranked teams this season and posted a record of 4-1. LSU, for its part, played nine ranked teams, posting an 8-1 record.

LSU won the SEC Championship Game while Alabama couldn't even manage to win its own division.

And, just as importantly, LSU and Alabama were 1-1 against each other this season.

Heck, just for fun, we can even throw the other one-loss teams into the mix (Oklahoma State, Boise State and Houston).

If you thought that the first meeting between LSU and Alabama back in early November was hyped, it paled in comparison to the run up to the BCS National Championship Game. Even the SEC got in on the act, purchasing several commercial spots during the BCS title game to rub in the fact that you were going to witness the sixth straight BCS championship for the conference (as if we didn't already know that).

But rather than a clash of two titans of southern football, what we saw was a playground beatdown of LSU by an Alabama team that was clearly more motivated and focused on the task at hand.

Ironically, this game started out much like the first meeting between these two teams, with offensive miscues that led to field goal after field goal.

But as the game wore on, it was clear that Alabama wasn't going to be making the same mistakes twice, while LSU suffered through what was easily its worst performance of the season.

Alabama's FBS-leading defense held LSU to a measly 92 yards of total offense, and the Tigers gained just five first downs all evening. LSU also commuted five penalties (35 yards) and turned the ball over twice while the Crimson Tide were nearly perfect all evening (one penalty for five yards and no turnovers).

On the other end, Alabama torched LSU for 384 yards, a touchdown and five field goals.

So what was the deal? Why didn't we get that heavyweight bout we were all geared up for?

Likely the biggest problem was the fact that it was a rematch.

While Alabama was provided a great deal of motivation thanks to the loss to LSU on November 5, the Tigers didn't have any such reason. What more could the Tigers prove? LSU had already defeated Alabama, and did so on Alabama's home field. Why on earth should the Tigers be forced to beat them yet again this season?

Such is the nature of the current BCS system.

As the game wore on, those intangible motivation factors began to play a bigger and bigger role in LSU's implosion, more so than any action the Alabama defense could have possibly thrown at the Tigers.

By the time LSU punted the ball away for the final time, it was evident that the Tigers simply wanted to slip away in to the New Orleans night, and try to forget about the previous three hours as quickly as possible.

While the lopsided game certainly wasn't the back-and-forth battle we were all promised, Alabama does come away with another national championship, and BCS haters are provided with at least seven months worth of ammunition—just enough to get us to kickoff of the 2012 season.