Alabama Football: Tide Only Team LSU Wouldn't Blow out of the Water

The way the BCS produces rankings is an arcane process that boggles even the best of us, but one thing is certain: They rank the teams based on what they have proven in both wins and losses. 

Their perception of what was proven may differ from that of the fans, but they tend to give credit where credit is due in at least some capacity. That is why Boise State and Houston are ranked, but are not considered for the championship.  

It's about what the teams prove, and yes, this is an argument about a "quality loss."  A loss is a loss, but who you lost to is more important. That is why Alabama fans still have the 2007 Louisiana-Monroe and 2009 Utah Sugar Bowl losses thrown into their faces.  

Losing a game you are heavily favored to win just looks really bad—it's as simple as that. Losing to the toughest opponent possible in a game that went down to the wire—as everyone expected—is a different matter. 

There are only two undefeated teams remaining: LSU and Houston. Barring some sort of Twilight Zone occurrence, Houston will not play for the title. That means a one-loss team will face LSU, provided that LSU wins the SEC, but that's an entirely different matter.

Main critics will say Alabama "had its chance" to beat LSU. To this I say, "Then get LSU on your regular-season schedule if you want a chance and play them, instead of losing to unranked teams."

It's an easy matter to understand. Every Top 25 team, other than LSU and Houston, proved they were inferior in some way to another team, and all those teams that handed out the losses are not as good as LSU. That is not debatable. LSU is the best team in the nation.

Thus, if you cannot defeat a team (or teams) far inferior to LSU, why should you play LSU for the national title?

Alabama is the only team that has proved it can defeat LSU despite the loss. Sure, there are other great teams in the nation, but what they've done on the field provides solid evidence that they couldn't beat LSU.  

One could also say that Alabama has proven they cannot defeat LSU, but it's really more like Alabama proved they can be beaten by LSU. It's a lot less proof than any other team has provided. In one of the closest games in history, Alabama lost.  

Who has proved that they can stop LSU's offense, which averages almost 40 points a game? Alabama's defense, which is ranked No. 1 in every major category and held LSU to three field goals, including one in overtime, or Oklahoma State's 107th-ranked defense that gives up over 450 yards per game (186 rushing, 267 passing)?

Is that what Oklahoma State would hope to do—try to win a game with a combined score of over 100? If Iowa State can hang almost 600 yards of offense on the Cowboys, then LSU would run all over them.  

I suppose that would be more "exciting" (since people are saying the 'Bama-LSU game was boring because of a lack of offense, or perhaps excessive defense, if you will), but I'd rather see defenses dominate rather than roll over. If you want to see some sort of unrealistic shootout, you can head down to GameStop and snag a copy of NCAA Football 2012.

Alabama has proved it is the No. 2 team in the nation. The Crimson Tide have shown they are the only ones that can hang with LSU. They have not been slapped around and handed a loss by an unranked team whom they were supposed to beat.  

The argument should not be "Alabama had its shot." The argument, to the other title-hopefuls, is this: Why didn't you just win the game you were supposed to win?

LSU would crush anyone in the nation, except for Alabama, and to that there is no proof. Anyone who says there's no proof because they haven't played LSU is trying to divert attention from the fact they got rocked by someone weaker than LSU.

Be grateful. The first 'Bama-LSU game provided the clearest picture of who the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation are in the history of the BCS.

I have a couple more jabs. The BCS doesn't rank teams on who has the best kicker, and a playoff system would undoubtedly have an all-SEC title game more often than the current system.