LSU vs Alabama: Does the Winner Get an Automatic Title Shot?

With the showdown between LSU and Alabama looming on the horizon on November 5^th, the winner of the game between the two top-five teams will be all but guaranteed a berth into the National Championship game in New Orleans.

After the Tigers and Crimson Tide rumble in Tuscaloosa in a few weeks, there are few obstacles that will prevent the winner of the game from making a trip to the BCS title game, as the rest of the schedule looks very manageable this season.

The remainder of the regular season for Alabama will finish with road games to Mississippi State and Auburn with an easy game with Georgia Southern sandwiched in the middle for the month of November. For the LSU Tigers, the rest of the schedule will feature visits from Western Kentucky and Arkansas, with a trip to Oxford to face Ole Miss in between the two home games.

With the rest of the regular season pretty much a cakewalk for the two powerhouses, the last remaining step before the BCS would be the SEC Championship game in Atlanta in December, which will again likely be an SEC West victory, the ninth since the formation of the title game in 1992.

The SEC East representative will most likely again be Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks, a team that will capture their second straight division title after winning their first ever in 2010. While you can say South Carolina might give LSU or Alabama a fight if they make it to Atlanta, the only thing I have to say to that is just look at what Auburn did to USC last December.

After getting out of the SEC, the real fun begins for either LSU or Alabama; who they will face in the BCS National Championship game in January? Will it be Oklahoma, Wisconsin or maybe even a dark horse like Stanford or Boise State?

No matter who is on the other side of the field facing off with the Tigers or Crimson Tide, I would be absolutely shocked to not see an SEC team walk into the offseason with a sixth straight National title for the best conference in college football.

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