BCS Rankings 2011: Breaking Down No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama Game of the Century

The game is still a good two weeks away, but college football fans have had this game circled on the calendar since the season began. The matchup is the LSU Tigers against the Alabama Crimson Tide, and the winner will likely represent the SEC West in the championship game and could receive a bid to the BCS National Championship.

The good news is both of these teams will likely meet with undefeated records, so the game has lost no hype going in.

When you first look at these teams, you notice the defense. The Crimson Tide give up no more than a touchdown a game while the Tigers give up 11 points. Combined, these teams have 26 sacks, 18 interceptions and 108 tackles for loss.

Both of these defenses are as good as advertised and if you like your games to be high-scoring, this game is not for you.

The key to this game would be how well the offenses do.

The LSU Tigers love to run the ball as they average just shy of 200 yards on the ground. The problem is Alabama only gives up 38 rushing yards a game with their physical defensive line.

Alabama also loves to run the ball and averages 241 rushing yards a game, but the LSU defense only gives up 75 rushing yards per contest. 

Spencer Ware, Michael Ford and Trent Richardson are all used to having success on the ground, but both teams may have to look elsewhere for an advantage.

Both teams struggle in the passing game as they both feature young quarterbacks.

Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron is in his first year and is completing 67 percent of his passes for 1,380 yards and nine touchdowns. Every week that goes by he improves and the confidence grows.

Senior quarterback Jarrett Lee is completing 61 percent of his passes and is part of a passing game that averages just 174 yards in the air.

LSU relies a lot more on the running game and only asks Lee to throw the ball when he has to. Alabama gets the slight advantage in the quarterback department. 

As you can see, both of these teams are extremely similar and it really could go either way. Both have top defenses, love to run the ball, struggle in the passing game and have great coaches.

You can predict a winner by flipping a coin, or you can look for the only real advantage and that's home field.

Alabama wins because it's in Tuscaloosa.