BCS National Championship 2012: AP Poll Gets It Right by Ranking Alabama No. 1

Heading into the BCS National Championship game on Monday night, there was a chance the AP Poll voters would vote for LSU or even Oklahoma State as the nation's top team if Alabama emerged victorious in a close game.

Unlike the USA Today Poll, which gives all first-place votes to the winner of the title game, the Associated Press voters can fill out their ballots however they please. Luckily, they made the right choice in giving the top spot to the Crimson Tide following a convincing 21-0 win.

It should be noted that the Cowboys actually received four votes for the top spot in the final poll as opposed to just one for LSU following the team's uninspiring performance.

It's best for college football when there is a clear national champion. Splitting the honor between two teams only makes the system seem even more screwed up than it already is.

Alabama and LSU clearly asserted themselves as the nation's two best teams during the regular season. While it would be nice to see them endure a playoff trek to claim the ultimate prize, we have to live with what's in place and that's one game for all the marbles.

You can't abide by that system and then vote the loser as national champion. It just doesn't make any sense in the grand scheme of things.

That's why it was important for voters to reward Alabama's win last night in the polls. Since both teams suffered one loss against each other, you have to use those two games as the basis for the vote. The Tide won by a bigger margin and on a biggest stage of them all.

The combination of Trent Richardson, A.J. McCarron and Alabama's top-ranked defense was just too much for LSU. A lot of credit needs to go to head coach Nick Saban and his staff as well for a terrific execution of their game plan.

The Tigers had a great season, there's no doubt about that. But in the end, they came up small in the most crucial game of them all and therefore can only blame themselves for not winning the title.

All told, it's called the national title for a reason. The winner is the top team in the country. There can't be two national champs, it's an oxymoron.

Thankfully, Alabama's thorough destruction of LSU forced the AP Poll voters to lean in the Tide's direction. College football has enough problems to deal with, the last thing the brass wants to hear about is even more ways the system can be improved.

At least for one year, it seems like everybody got it right.