Alabama Football: Why Crimson Tide's BCS Hopes Rest on Matchup Against LSU

The Alabama Crimson Tide will be one of the top two teams when the BCS rankings come out on Sunday, but if they wish to play in the title game then they'll have to get through the LSU Tigers.

November 5th features a bevy of fantastic games, but there is no greater game this season than LSU vs. Alabama. 

The Tigers are No. 1 in the country, whereas the Crimson Tide is No. 2. It's likely to stay that way over the next few weeks, which is what makes this matchup so intriguing.

College football fans around the nation will be thrilled to watch this game because it's basically the regular season title game. How could you not want to watch No. 1 and No. 2 go head to head?  

The argument of you not liking the SEC will not fly. If you chose to not watch this game then you're not really a college football fan at all.  

The winner of this game should win the SEC West, play in the SEC Championship game and then on to the BCS National Championship Game. 

There's a lot at stake in the first weekend of November, which is why Alabama has to be thankful their next few weeks aren't too difficult. 

I think everyone can agree they'd rather play at Ole Miss and then host Tennessee as opposed to what LSU has to go through in playing at Tennessee and then hosting No. 24 Auburn. 

Credit both schools for great scheduling in 2011, because LSU and Alabama both have a bye on October 29th, the week before these two teams square off, which is another reason this will be the best game of the year. 

Each team gets two weeks to prepare for the other? This will be a true test of who has the better players and coaches. 

Both LSU and Alabama have impressive résumés thus far, and their body of work will be noticed and rewarded by the BCS come Sunday. 

However, in order to reach the title game, a team is going to have to win their conference and be undefeated. 

There's no guarantee to even reach a BCS Bowl should the Crimson Tide lose to LSU. That should be their only loss of the season, but with so many talented teams this season, it's hard to say they're a lock for the BCS should they fall to LSU. 

If they do lose, the chances Alabama plays in a BCS Bowl are still high, but it's not certain because college football is very unpredictable.

After all, there are currently 13 undefeated teams in the Top 25.

With plenty of games left in the season, that number of undefeated teams is sure to decrease, but that doesn't change the fact the Crimson Tide—or LSU for that matter—would be guaranteed a spot in a BCS Bowl.

Granted, it would be difficult to turn down the Crimson Tide because of their great following of fans, but if there are teams with better records then they deserve to go ahead of Alabama.

The thing is, though, playing in a BCS Bowl is not the goal for either team. Playing for the title should be every team's goal to begin the season—and with coaches like Nick Saban and Les Miles, you know these two teams will be vying to be the best every year. 

There are still a few weeks before these two teams meet, but right now I give the edge to the Tigers, because they've proven they can win in big games on the road.

Alabama has done that as well, but LSU has played tougher competition, and they're making big-time plays on both sides of the ball.  

It's easy to see these two teams are evenly matched and that it's going to be a phenomenal game. Since it's being played in Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Crimson Tide will have the upper hand.

But as of right now, I really like what the Tigers are doing and I think the Mad Hatter has just enough luck left in the tank to pull out the victory.

A lot can change in four weeks, though, so we'll see how the teams have played heading into their bye week and go from there.