BCS Championship Game Should be LSU and...

Nobody.

Yes, the BCS Championship Game should be LSU and nobody else. We don't need to have a title game to determine the best team in the country. To me, it's pretty obvious who that is. Even if LSU goes to Atlanta this Saturday and gets upset by Georgia in the SEC Championship, the Tigers' body of work is unmatched. A one-loss LSU team would still be the most accomplished team in the country.

No doubt about it: the Tigers have been dominant.

The Tigers have done everything, answered every challenge. LSU has played about as difficult a schedule as a team can realistically play. Third-ranked Oregon a neutral field? A 40-27 win that wasn't even as close as the score would indicate. A road trip to #16 West Virginia? A 47-21 rout.

Then the Tigers marched through the stronger division of toughest conference in the country. They won the much (over)hyped game at second-ranked Alabama. They blasted the up-and-coming, third-ranked Razorbacks 41-17. Florida and Auburn both came to Baton Rouge as ranked teams and lost by more than four touchdowns.

The final count: seven wins over ranked opponents (Georgia in the SEC title game could be the eighth). No other team has more than four. Only one team (Alabama) has more than three. LSU has 12 wins overall. In half of those games, the opponent failed to get 10 points. The opponent scored more than 11 in only three.

No one is going to argue that LSU is the clear number one. In my opinion, LSU has lapped the field.

That said, I'm not completely serious about not having a title game. This is the format that college football programs agreed to at the beginning of the season, so we need to play it out. The contenders to get that last shot at powerful LSU are pretty obvious, and they all have their pros and cons.

Houston (12-0): Beat someone better than Tulsa. Then we'll talk. I know it's unfortunate that there was no one on Houston's schedule on that level, but that's life in college football. Ask Boise State and TCU. They know this drill.

Stanford (11-1): It stinks, but the old "you didn't even win your division" argument hurts a lot, especially when Oregon, the team that beat Stanford, has two losses and is out of the national title picture. Stanford is certainly a solid team, a BCS bowl team, but not a BCS finalist.

Virginia Tech (11-1): Houston's schedule is almost more impressive. There were only two ranked teams on the Hokies' slate: they lost to 13th ranked Clemson, who has since tanked, and they defeated #21 Georgia Tech. The Hokies just haven't played or beaten many quality teams. Orange Bowl? Sure, Virginia Tech can have that (assuming it gets a measure of revenge against free-falling Clemson in the ACC Championship). Nothing beyond that though.

Alabama (11-1): Almost as dominant as LSU, Alabama is a unanimous #2 in the latest AP Poll behind the unanimous #1 Tigers. There aren't quite as many big wins, but Alabama has been just as dominant in the SEC with the exception of one game. That game was at home to those LSU Tigers, of course. The situation reminds me of 2006, when #1 Ohio State defeated #2 Michigan. One big argument against a rematch then was that Ohio State had passed its test against Michigan and shouldn't have to do it again. Voters boosted Florida into that number two spot, and Chris Leak (and a freshman named Tim Tebow) led the Gators to the national title. I think the "test has been passed" argument applies even more to LSU/Alabama. Unlike Michigan in 2006, Alabama had its shot at home. The Tide had its chance and didn't come through. Even so, few people can argue that Alabama is the second-best team in the country based on its entire body of work.

Under tough circumstances, OSU lost to Iowa State, but
would a Bedlam win make voters take a second look at OSU?

Oklahoma State (10-1): The overtime road loss to Iowa State is so frustrating. It seems almost inappropriate to bring up the plane crash that morning that killed women's basketball coaches Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna as a reason why the team may not have been focused. However, it also seems naive to think that such a tragic event (especially in that community, which experienced a similar tragedy almost 11 years earlier) wasn't at least on the players' minds the entire day and night. Outside influences aside, Oklahoma State lost to a mediocre team. That's the bottom line. None of the four teams listed above have lost to mediocre, unranked teams.
The Cowboys have one more chance to make a statement, though. If OSU can get past Oklahoma, the team that has dominated the Bedlam rivalry for decades (82-16-7 all-time), that would give voters something to think about. It would give the Cowboys four wins over ranked opponents (the same as Alabama, and more than anyone else besides LSU) and a conference title (something Stanford and Alabama will not have). Is OSU a better team than Alabama? Maybe not. Then again, how can we know for sure if OSU never takes the field against either LSU or Alabama?

My final conclusion: if you want the second best team in the country, that team is Alabama. If you want another deserving team that hasn't had its shot at LSU yet, that would be Oklahoma State if it wins Bedlam. If OSU loses Bedlam, forget it. The rematch is inevitable and the only fair option.

Final thought: if Alabama gets its rematch and wins, LSU should get one, too. In Baton Rouge.