Arkansas vs LSU: Tigers Prove To Be Best in BCS with Blowout Win over Razorbacks

Forget about the BCS National Championship Game. The powers that be in college football might as well stop the season right now and hand the crystal football over to No. 1 LSU.

The Tigers left no doubt about which team is the best in the land in their 41-17 shellacking of No. 3 Arkansas in Baton Rouge in the annual Battle for the Golden Boot.

Les Miles' squad set aside recent history—the Tigers had lost three of their previous four meetings with the Razorbacks—and the distracting mess that the BCS has become to dismantle a top-quality team and secure the SEC West title while remaining a perfect 12-0 on the season for the first time in school history.

More impressive than the 24-point victory itself was how it happened. The Hogs raced out to a 14-point lead in the second quarter by way of a 13-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Wilson to Jarius Wright and a 48-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Alonzo Highsmith.

That deficit, though daunting to most, hardly phased the Bayou Bengals, as they quickly erased it with a touchdown run by Kenny Hilliard and a 92-yard punt return to the end zone by Tyrann Mathieu (a.k.a. The Honey Badger) before finally going on top with a touchdown connection between Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepard. Hence, in a matter of minutes, LSU turned a 14-0 disadvantage into a 21-14 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

You know, just the sort of thing that national champions do. No big deal.

The mighty Hogs' offense, which came into Saturday's action averaging better than 39 points and 463 yards per game, mounted only one more serious challenge the rest of the game—a third-quarter drive to the Arkansas 12-yard line that resulted in a 29-yard field goal.

The Tigers, on the other hand, seemingly couldn't help but score, tacking on two field goals and two more touchdowns before the fat lady sang and the Golden Boot was returned to the Bayou.

There is a case to be made that this win hardly separates LSU from the rest of its competitors. No. 2 Alabama pulled the same trick two months ago, beating Arkansas in Tuscaloosa by 24 points. Of course, the Tigers already defeated the Crimson Tide head-to-head in the "Game of the Century" three weeks ago, though the nature of the win—a 9-6 overtime victory decided by poor placekicking—leaves the door open for doubt in the minds of some folks, especially in certain parts of Dixieland.

Even so, it's the Tigers, not Nick Saban's Tide, who will be playing Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and are still one of two undefeated teams in the country, along with 12-0 Houston.

Certainly, 'Bama's still in the conversation, if for no other reason than the fact that it'll likely end up in the national title game so long as it takes care of business against Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

For now, though, LSU can comfortably claim to the be the best in the nation and will likely have the opportunity to prove it at the Louisiana Superdome in January, whether it beats UGA next weekend or not.