Alabama Not Punished in BCS Standings for LSU Loss; Rematch Very Possible

College football logic flew out the window Sunday night when the latest standings for the Big Cash System—I mean, Bowl Championship Series—were released.

Conventional wisdom and historical precedent indicate that unbeaten teams get punished in the rankings when they lose at home in November. Alabama was No. 2 going into this year's "Game of the Century" Saturday night against No. 1 LSU in Tuscaloosa. LSU escaped with a 9-6 overtime win.

That means Alabama was poised for a fall in the rankings, right?

Make no mistake: The Crimson Tide fell—all the way to No. 3 from No. 2.

So now the remainder of the regular season will be filled with speculation such as that which went on Sunday night and on into this morning: Will the Tide and Tigers meet again in New Orleans on Jan. 9?

The answer is a qualified "maybe."

If Oklahoma State and Stanford, currently ranked No. 2 and No. 4 respectively, were to lose at any point then, yes, Alabama would likely vault back to No. 2 provided they win-out against Mississippi State, Georgia Southern—really??— and Auburn. Given the rate at which the Cowboys, in particular, can surrender points, an Oklahoma State loss isn't out of the question.

Rematch talk becomes moot, however, if either Oklahoma State or Stanford runs the table.

The Cowboys still have a marquee matchup on the docket, a Dec. 3 season-ending Bedlam game with Oklahoma in Stillwater.

The Cardinal, likewise, has a red-letter date on the schedule when Oregon comes to The Farm on Saturday to, for all intents and purposes, decide the Pac-12 North title.

All of this assumes, of course, that LSU finishes unbeaten. The Tigers still have some work to do, hosting Arkansas to close the regular season. If LSU survives that, it likely gets Georgia—winners of seven straight since starting 0-2—in the SEC title game.

While Stanford is currently slightly behind Alabama in the latest BCS standings, the key word is "slightly," as in "negligible." If the Cardinal beats Oregon on Saturday, Stanford will likely leapfrog Alabama in the standings due to the computer boost associated with beating a Top 10 opponent.

But Stanford will need an Oklahoma State loss somewhere along the way to reach the coveted Top 2; the computers are giving much love to the Big 12 and not so much to the Pac-12 this season. So there's not really a scenario by which Stanford passes Oklahoma State if both remain unbeaten.

If both Oklahoma State and Stanford stumble against their remaining Top Ten foes, it would put Oklahoma and Oregon back into the title-game picture along with a one-loss Alabama squad.

I know some of this seems like I'm reaching, but there have been too many years in the "let's arbitrarily pick two teams and call it a championship" era when unlikely and unexpected scenarios became reality.

The one scenario that isn't going to happen, regardless of how it fares the rest of the way, is Boise State playing for the big crystal football.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong or making a determination of whether or not it's fair, I'm simply being the pragmatist that I am and stating that this is just the way it is—the BCS machine will never allow the Broncos to play in the designated big game at the end.

So while it's a nice topic for the talking heads this time of year, that's all it will ever be until Boise State is able to secure alignment with a conference that is a BCS automatic qualifier.

The most likely scenario for the Broncos, should they win-out, would be an at-large BCS bid against Houston (should they win-out), keeping with the BCS' tradition of not allowing non-automatic qualifiers to play AQ schools if at all possible.

I'm not necessarily opposed to a rematch between LSU and Alabama in the BCS title game. But should it come to pass, I'll make sure to stock up on caffeinated beverages.