BCS Rankings: What the Top 5 Should Look Like After LSU's Win

LSU came out a little hesitantly, allowing Georgia to score 10 unanswered points to start the game. It would have been 24, but for some reason, UGA's receivers don't like the football to hit them in their hands.

LSU came out in the second half to dominate the scoreboard to the tune of 42-10. (Even with the dropped TD passes, that's still a dominant win.)

The upcoming BCS rankings have been notoriously difficult to predict this year, but I'll give it my best shot.

The BCS rankings SHOULD look like this, but I'm not sure an OSU victory wouldn't change the order of No. 2 and No. 3.

5: Boise State

Boise State (10-1 overall) comes in at the No. 5 spot this week. Clemson demolished Virginia Tech earlier in the season, and with a 10-10 tie at halftime, I'm thinking Clemson will return to their original "fourth-quarter" selves and pull out the win tonight, though not by the margin it won the original matchup.

With the Clemson win, I have Boise moving up past the losing teams. They land straight-up at No. 5.

Boise had a "BCS-busting" season going on until the TCU loss. I hope Kellen Moore's departure doesn't take Boise out of the mix next year.

4: Stanford Cardinal

Stanford (11-1 overall) was left out of the Pac-12 Championship Game by virtue of the fact that Oregon represented the North as winner of the head-to-head contest.

This is a fine argument for ranking the conferences regardless of division, and just using the divisions for scheduling purposes. I don't think that will ever happen, but we're all thinking it.

Was Georgia really No. 2 in the SEC? UCLA was definitely not No. 2 in the Pac-12.

Stanford was, and hasn't lost to LSU yet.

Stanford earned the No. 4 spot, but is a fine example for the 2011 Playoff Petition that will probably be circulating this postseason.

3: Oklahoma State Cowboys

This is where Oklahoma State (10-1 pre-Bedlam overall) lands at the end of the year. Points scored for OSU are top-notch.

Points against are just not good enough to stop an LSU beatdown. OSU put together a fine season, but the BCS has taught us a few things in its short existence:

1) Every game counts.

2) Rule No. 1 is true only if everyone doesn't lose.

3) In the event that all would-be contenders do take a loss or two, then who you lose to and how recently the loss was matter.

In short, "Every game counts, except when everyone in college football makes sure that it doesn't."

OSU has had a stellar season, and I wouldn't be too shocked if they took the Big 12 next year. If they can run the table, they'll get their shot.

2: Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama (11-1 overall) should be sitting at No. 2 when the rankings come out tomorrow night. We will see. Still the best in the country in a plethora of defensive categories, Alabama has been the only team to step up and force LSU into overtime.

No one else came even close, with the exception of Georgia today. After a slow start, LSU came back and let Georgia know that they never had a chance. They were still sleepy from the L-tryptophan in the Thanksgiving turkeys they couldn't eat until after the Arkansas game last weekend.

Alabama proved on Nov. 5 that, no matter who goes to the BCS National Championship Game to play LSU, it will be ludicrous if it isn't the Tide.

LSU has laid waste to the college football landscape this year, and the only sapling that didn't get completely cut down was 'Bama.

'Bama sits behind only LSU, and if OSU gets into the "Big Game," it will be because the voters entered this weekend looking for a reason NOT to allow 'Bama a rematch.

1: LSU Tigers

LSU (13-0 overall and SEC Champion) is undefeated. LSU is the only undefeated team in the nation following Houston's loss to Southern Miss by three touchdowns.

LSU has taken down every opponent they have faced by a margin that leaves no doubt as to who the better team is, with the exception of Alabama. (Not a dominant margin, but a well-fought win, nonetheless.)

LSU belongs to the NFL-style-defense-riddled SEC. That, my fellow college football fans, is earning it. I hope, at this point in the year, no one disagrees with LSU being the top-ranked team in college football. No one has earned it quite this clearly in a long time.

LSU has put together one of the greatest seasons in college football, and it has a chance to tack on the BCS National Championship to prove it.

The question in the LSU fans' minds right now is, "Who are we going to have to beat?"

They aren't wondering whether they will win, they're just ready to take the crystal football home.

It's been a long journey, especially with all the "are they really the best?" junk going on in the background.