Watching the LSU-Alabama game Saturday night reminded me of a story.
This was back in the 1980s, when Ray Perkins was head coach at Alabama.
Perkins' had an assistant coach named George Henshaw, a really good offensive line coach and offensive coordinator. There were some injuries on the offensive line, and Alabama had one of those non-conference creampuffs the Tide used to always schedule before playing someone really good like Tennessee or LSU. So Henshaw had used that game to rest an injured starter and give a start to a young player from Huntsville.
The Tide won the game, and afterward we asked Henshaw how the new guy had played. Henshaw was complimentary, which led the sportswriter from the players' home town to ask, "So, will he start again this week?"
Henshaw drew back, like he'd been shocked.
"Oh, no,'' Henshaw said. "This week, we're playing real men!"
For all the games that have been played this college football season, clearly Saturday's 9-6 game won in overtime by LSU over Alabama was a game played between "real men."
Which leads us to the question: what now?
Clearly it was a game that lived up to everything that makes the SEC the premier conference in college football: great defense, played by men whose only reason for being in college is to prepare them for the NFL.
The two offenses aren't bad either. Neither would get confused for, say Oklahoma State. But then, Oklahoma State's offense wouldn't even look like Oklahoma State if the Cowboys had to go against an SEC defense - which, if the season unfolds as it should, will be what happens in the BCS Championship Game in January.
Here's my personal delimma. I agree, right now, that LSU and Alabama appear to be the best two teams in college football. And when you look at the current BCS standings and see that the Tide only fell from second to third after the loss, it would appear the computers and voters agree.
But I also have always believed that if you can't win your own conference, you shouldn't be playing for the national championship.
What if LSU stumbles against Arkansas?
That brings up an interesting scenario: what if LSU loses to Arkansas? Then there will be three teams with one loss, all in the same division. The tie-breaker in the SEC will go way down to the list of criteria to the one that says the team that represents the Division will be the one ranked highest in the BCS standings - unless one of the other teams is within five spots of the highest ranked team and that lower-ranked team beat the higher-ranked team.
In other words, if LSU loses to Arkansas but remains ranked ahead of the Hogs but only by, say, three spots, then Arkansas goes.
And I'll let you go on to work out all the other possibilities (which seem endless).
Anyway, as much as this Alabama ex-patriot hates to say it, I'm for LSU from here on out.
See, I grew up on the loyalty of concentric circles. That is to say, I was always for anyone in my family first; my neighborhood second; my home town third; my region fourth; followed by my state, my part of the country, my country, my hemisphere .... and so on.
So I'm not one of those people who feels like its bad for my rival to lose. I'm proud of the fact that the last two BCS Championships and the last two Heisman Trophies belong to the state of Alabama.
Just as I'm proud of the fact that the last five BCS championships belong to the SEC, and I want that to continue.
By the same token, as much as I might think a rematch would be only right, it wouldn't be.
Besides, it's so much fun to watch the SEC beat up on the best the rest of college football has to offer.
That does lead to an interesting question, however.
What if Oklahoma State loses to Oklahoma, which could happen; and Stanford loses to Oregon, which could happen. Then there are a bunch of one-loss teams - including Alabama (remember, I don't count Boise or Houston; happy that they'll have undefeated seasons, but neither belongs in the BCS Championship game).
What if Oregon somehow moves back into the No. 2 spot? We've already seen LSU destroy Oregon, so no one wants to see that game again.
Actually, in that case, I'd like to see Boise get into the championship game and get destroyed by LSU, just to shut them up once and for all.
By the way, Boise State in the Big East? A Big East that is losing West Virginia (to the Big 12), Pittsburgh and Syracuse (to the ACC)?
I give Boise credit for trying to move up. I laugh the Big East that is so desperate to try to stay relevant it is willing to take a team from Idaho. Still, let's see what Boise does in the Little Big East.
Meanwhile - as much as it pains me to say it ...
Geaux Tigers.
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