BCS Rankings: Where will Alabama Land in the Latest Rankings?

No. 2 Alabama hosted No. 1 LSU this weekend and lost to the Tigers at home, 9-6. Alabama played a great game defensively and will most likely remain in the Top 5 in the next BCS standings. There are a few teams that are likely to surpass the Tide if they remain undefeated, but Alabama has earned a lot of national respect this season.

With the remaining undefeated teams in the conversation being LSU, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Boise State, all four will undoubtedly be ranked higher than the Tide. With a big win for No. 6 Oklahoma this week, there is a possibility for the Sooners to pass up the one loss Tide this week.

There will be some that will argue that the Tide should remain in the Top 3 for the tight game that they played against the current No. 1, the argument against that is the Tide lost at home and there are other AQ schools that are still undefeated.

Despite the loss, the Tide is likely to find itself embedded at No. 5 this Sunday when the BCS rankings come to the press. They will fall far enough that unless others above them lose, they will likely finish the season in New Orleans, just playing in the Sugar Bowl.

Alabama plays at Mississippi State, home against Georgia Southern and then travel to No. 22 Auburn. There is a challenge to finish the season with the Tigers waiting to rock at Jordan-Hare but Alabama is likely to win the remainder of its games.

Alabama controls its own destiny. The Tide must win out to earn a possible BCS bid. Finishing in a BCS game is a great finish to a season, but the Tide faithful were expecting a national championship run.

Alabama will remain in the distant conversation but the Tide is most likely out of the hunt for the remainder of this season. There is a number of scenarios that could end in Alabama’s favor, but ending the season the Tide would have to win the SEC Championship before they were a viable national title contender.

Whatever the remainder of the season holds, Alabama is one of the best teams in the country in 2011. Unfortunately, they play in the same division as the current No. 1 team, the LSU Tigers.