BCS Standings: Alabama and Oklahoma State Leave Open Debate at Top of Rankings

With Alabama dominating LSU on Monday night to win the BCS championship, the prevailing theory will be that the Crimson Tide are the no-doubt, ironclad, rock-solid No. 1 team in the country. But what makes us so sure that they are better than Oklahoma State?

Alabama has a great defense, there is no denying that. But just how much of that 21-0 performance on Monday night was helped by LSU's anemic offense?

The Tigers had a mediocre offensive team all year long. And don't tell me that they averaged 36 points per game, because if you look at the teams they actually scored against, all of them were bad defensively or play in a conference that no one has ever heard of. 

But everyone seems to be jumping on the Alabama bandwagon now that it has avenged its regular season loss to LSU. 

For instance, Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated, who admits that he was going to give Oklahoma State a No. 1 vote if LSU lost a close game, just decided that what Alabama did was good enough to put them over the Cowboys when he voted after the BCS championship game:

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A national champion does what Alabama did. The Crimson Tide earned everyone's No. 1 vote with a 21-0 win on Monday. Alabama played the No. 1 team in the nation to a draw in regulation on Nov. 5, then crushed that same team with all the Allstate insurance policies on the line. The argument following the season was that Alabama didn't deserve to be in the game. Monday, as LSU rolled up five first downs and 92 yards of total offense, it didn't appear that the Tigers belonged on the same field as the Crimson Tide.

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What does that first sentence mean? Why does this win suddenly negate that one loss Alabama had to LSU eight weeks ago?

All that we know is 'Bama and LSU are 1-1 against this season. We don't know if the Crimson Tide are better than the Cowboys. Does anyone really think that Oklahoma State wouldn't have been able to do more than LSU did?

If you do, then you haven't seen Oklahoma State play this season. I am not saying that Oklahoma State would defeat Alabama if the two teams would have played. In fact, if you were to ask me, I would probably pick Alabama. 

But to just write off what the Cowboys did this year, and pronounce the Crimson Tide as best team in the country, is weak and shows just how shortsighted sports fans and analysts really are. 

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