BCS Rankings 2011: Which Rematch Is Better—LSU vs. Oregon or LSU vs. Alabama?

The BCS National Championship picture is far from settled, but supposing everyone at the top other than Oklahoma State wins out, college football fans could be treated to one of two 2011 season rematches in New Orleans.

LSU vs. Alabama or LSU vs. Oregon.

The Crimson Tide currently sit at No. 3 in the BCS following a solid 24-7 win over Mississippi State in Starkville. The Ducks, on the other hand, jumped from No. 7 to No. 4 by virtue of a 53-30 throttling of now-No. 9 Stanford in Palo Alto.

Why Alabama Should Play LSU

You may recall that 'Bama came agonizingly close to upending the Bayou Bengals on the first Saturday of November in what was widely billed as the "Game of the Century."

You could easily argue that the Tide should have won that game and probably would have had their kickers, Cade Foster and Jeremy Shelley, combined to hit, say, three or four out of their six combined field goal attempts, as opposed to just the two that actually split the uprights at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

If anything, the game itself decided very little about which team deserves to be called the best in college football, even if it did technically put LSU ahead of 'Bama in the SEC West standings.

Fans of hard-hitting defensive football would surely love to see these two powerhouses of punishment duke it out once again, throwing top-notch NFL prospects, with considerable animosity toward each other, on the same field once again.

On the flip side, if you're a fan of offensive football, then this possibility, which first arose when the updated BCS standings were revealed the day after the clash, is pure anathema to anything and everything you'd want to see.

Neither team managed to reach the end zone all night, leaving the ultimate result to be decided by kickers, in a conference that's notorious for poor special teams play, rather than the plethora of play-makers and game-breakers that each side sports in bunches.

And, if nothing else, there's always the argument that a team that didn't win its own conference shouldn't play for the national title, much less against another squad from the very same league that did.

Not to mention the whole notion that Alabama already had its chance to beat LSU and blew it.

Why Oregon Should Play LSU

Then again, the same could be said of Oregon, which lost to LSU in the season opener on a so-called "netural site" at Cowboys Stadium, which happens to be far closer to Baton Rouge, Louisiana than it is to Eugene, Oregon.

What's more, the margin of victory—40-27—would seem to put the Ducks behind the Tide in this discussion.

But, look a bit closer, and you'll see a team whose worthiness goes well beyond the number of uniform combinations it can trot out.

The Ducks we saw then, the ones who couldn't run the ball and saw freshman De'Anthony Thomas fumble it away on consecutive touches, might as well be a different team than the Ducks we watched tear Stanford apart on Saturday.

Darron Thomas and LaMichael James have emerged from their early-season struggles perhaps better than ever, the younger Thomas has established himself as a serious threat on the ground and through the air, and the defense, which actually played quite well against the Bayou Bengals despite the final score, looks to have added a distinctive tinge of physicality to its incredible speed and athleticism.

And while everyone loves to talk about how dominant LSU's defense is, who better than the Ducks, who hung 27 on Tyrann Mathieu and company, to turn the national title game into an entertaining tilt for all football fans, not just lovers of defense and jarring collisions?

Moreover, Oregon actually has the chance to, you know, win its own conference (Pac-12), something that Alabama can't do unless LSU doesn't.

Which One Would Be The Better Game?

Of course, the Tide and the Ducks will need plenty of help from Oklahoma (in beating Oklahoma State) as well a nice nudge from the pollsters and the computers before either one can hope to settle another score with the Tigers.

That being said, an Oregon-LSU rematch would be much better for college football as a whole than would another 'Bama-LSU kick-and-hit-fest.

Such a game would generate cross-regional interest, rather than just catering to Southern comfort, and satisfy football fans of all preferences, from those who love watching physical defensive play to those who enjoy blazing speed and big plays.

And, as Nick Saban can surely tell you, non-conference winners simply don't make for worthy opponents in BCS title games (right, Oklahoma?).

Ultimately, though, I think we can all agree that a new match-up, between two teams that haven't played each other this season, would be the best thing for the sport of college football and the BCS.

Rank	Team	BCS Average
1	LSU	.9933
2	Oklahoma State	.9642
3	Alabama	.9099
4	Oregon	.8755
5	Oklahoma	.8400
6	Arkansas	.7974
7	Clemson	.6935
8	Virginia Tech	.6755
9	Stanford	.6747
10	Boise State	.5959
11	Houston	.567
12	South Carolina	.528
13	Kansas State	.497
14	Georgia	.453
15	Michigan State	.439
16	Nebraska	.382
17	Wisconsin	.333
18	Michigan	.295
19	TCU	.252
20	Southern Mississippi	.245
21	Penn State	.230
22	Baylor	.136
23	Texas	.120
24	Auburn	.079
25	Florida State	.071