The SEC has been part of the last seven 1-2 bowl matchups, having won five straight national titles. Alabama has been in five total and lost only its first, as No. 2 in the 1972 Orange Bowl to Nebraska. LSU won in its only one, beating Ohio State in the BCS final after the 2007 season. When the Tigers won that game 4 years ago against Oklahoma, they were ranked third, even though they finished second in the BCS standings. Don't ask.
Anyway, this is only the second time the two have met when both were in the top five. The other was 2005, when No. 5 LSU won at No. 4 Alabama, 16-13, in overtime. They've each been in the Top 10 five other times (1964, 1972, '73, '78 and 2009). Alabama was the higher-ranked team every time and won all of them, four at home.
Both had last week off. LSU, which has had its share of off-field issues, played its closest game on Sept. 15, 19-6, at Mississippi State. Since then, the Tigers have won by 26, 28, 30, 31 and 35. They've faced five teams that were ranked at the time, two at home.
The Crimson Tide has played three, one away. That was Penn State on Sept. 10, which was their closest (27-11). Since Penn State, they've won their last six, by 41, 24, 28, 34, 45 and 31.
The winner, of course, will be favored to get to the ultimate game, but there's no guarantees, especially with a conference title game to deal with. And LSU still has Arkansas, which has only lost at Alabama, left at home on Nov. 25, the same weekend the Tide seeks revenge at Auburn.
The interesting part could be what happens to the loser, especially if it's the road team on, say, some late field goal. In that scenario, an 11-1 LSU would still figure to carry serious weight come final BCS time, with computers and voters.
