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NEW ORLEANS - Alabama's players whooped it up amid the confetti and fireworks Monday night after winning the BCS championship, having stewed for two months about their first meeting with top-ranked Louisiana State. With a smothering display of old-school football, the No. 2 Crimson Tide blew out the Tigers, 21-0, for their second national title in three years. Coach Nick Saban accepted the trophies Tuesday morning and admitted that he might have savored it more than the title two years ago. "To be honest with you, I think I maybe did," Saban said.

NEW ORLEANS - The Rematch of the Century, it wasn't. Alabama romped to another BCS championship, stifling top-ranked LSU with a smothering defensive performance, a numbing barrage of field goals and even a long-overdue trip to the end zone. Good enough for No. 1, if not a lot of style points. No. 2 Alabama posted the first shutout in the 14-year history of the BCS, relying on Jeremy Shelley's right leg for most of the points - he made a bowl record-tying five field goals - and letting its defense do the rest.

NEW ORLEANS - Jeremy Shelley's foot and a stalwart defense drove Alabama to its ninth national championship on Monday night, as the Crimson Tide won a rematch with rival Louisiana State, 21-0, to claim the BCS title. Alabama has won nine Associated Press or BCS championships. Coach Nick Saban won his third, including one at LSU in 2003. The Southeastern Conference has captured six consecutive BCS titles. For much of the game, the rematch between the two SEC rivals mirrored their regular-season meeting, a 9-6 overtime LSU win. But this time, all the field goals were being made by the Crimson Tide (12-1)

ED BARKOWITZ: This will not be the shootout that the short-attention-span generation dials up on its video games. But it won't be a touchdown-less slugfest like the first meeting. Each team has a dominant defense, but also has some talent on offense and special teams. Alabama running back Trent Richardson seems to save his best for the big games and it doesn't get any bigger than this. Alabama 24, LSU 17   CHUCK BAUSMAN: LSU has superior athletes and will have something of a homefield advantage playing in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS - Les Miles squeezed out a smile, clenched his left hand nervously, and extended his right hand toward Nick Saban. The coaches got in an awkward grasp, forced a bit of small talk, and then posed for the cameras behind the crystal trophy that only one of them can hoist toward the Superdome roof come Monday night. This was the last of their pregame obligations - one final chance for Miles to deflect a query about whether top-ranked Louisiana State is the favorite to make it to the BCS title next year , one more opportunity for Saban to show he's got a life beyond his stranglehold on the storied program at No. 2 Alabama.

LSU CORNERBACK Tyrann Mathieu is taking trash-talking to another level. The Heisman Trophy finalist has looked up the names of the mothers of Alabama football players so he can provoke the Crimson Tide during tonight's BCS Championship Game in New Orleans. That, according to the Crimson White, the University of Alabama's student newspaper. "You try to get the edge any way you got to," Mathieu told the newspaper. "When you are on the field you're just having fun, you're just talking.

In the current edition of Sports Illustrated, there is an opinion piece authored by one Dick Friedman, who expounds about his devotion to LSU, his favorite college football team. He has been cheering for the Tigers since wondrous halfback Billy Cannon led the 1958 squad to an undefeated season and the first of the school's three national championships, the last two of which have been won since 2003. Nothing unusual about Friedman's level of devotion, except that this is a guy who lives in New Jersey, and always has. He never attended LSU, saw an LSU game in person or even set foot in Baton Rouge.

NEW ORLEANS - From Florida State's Sugar Bowl meltdown 16 years ago to New England's stunning Super Bowl loss, history suggests that it's tough to beat an opponent the second time around. Top-ranked Louisiana State is looking to write a new chapter in its Big Easy do-over with Alabama. "The opportunity to play them again is something we're going to embrace," Tigers star Tyrann Mathieu insisted Friday. Not that they have much of a choice. The Tigers (13-0) already beat the Crimson Tide (11-1)

NEW ORLEANS - Morris Claiborne went to Louisiana State to play wide receiver. Tyrann Mathieu just wanted a chance to play. Together they form one of the best cornerback tandems in college football. Claiborne has flourished into a Thorpe Award winner and likely top-10 NFL draft pick after moving to the other side of the ball, while the pint-size Mathieu has emerged as one of the game's most dynamic playmakers, winning the Bednarik Award and earning an invitation to the Heisman ceremony.

VIRGINIA COACH Tony Bennett was no stranger to LSU coach Trent Johnson. The two had faced each other in the Pac-10 and also twice since Johnson took over the Tigers. Bennett wasn't surprised that his 21st-ranked Cavaliers had to scrape out a 57-52 victory over LSU last night in Baton Rouge. "I knew it was going to be a hard-fought game," Bennett said. "You have to play on both ends of the floor against a Trent Johnson team. You have to break them down. It was a typical physical game.