Rematch! LSU vs. Alabama in BCS title game
Play it again, LSU and Alabama.
The Crimson Tide edged Oklahoma State in the final round of voting yesterday and will play the top-ranked Tigers in the BCS national championship game Jan. 9 in New Orleans.
Undefeated LSU is the only team to beat Alabama, but the top BCS official sees a do-over as a perfectly good title game.
"Absolutely, if they're 1 and 2, and they are in all the polls released today," executive director Bill Hancock said.
Still, it's not exactly a game the public was clamoring for -- at least outside of SEC territory. And it will do nothing to quiet the critics of the Bowl Championship Series or the calls for a playoff. But like it or not, the BCS has ensured that the SEC will run its streak of national championships to six.
LSU (13-0) won, 9-6, at Alabama in overtime Nov. 5 after the Crimson Tide missed four field-goal tries.
"This could be a totally different type of game," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "There's so much opportunity for this game to have a completely different flavor."
Alabama (11-1) finished second in both the Harris and coaches' polls by a wide enough margin to make up for the fact that Oklahoma State was ahead in the computer ratings.
The Cowboys made a late surge by beating Oklahoma, 44-10, Saturday night to close the gap with Alabama in the polls. But it was not enough to avoid the first title-game rematch in the BCS' 14-year history.
"We wanted the opportunity to settle the debate that has gone on all year about the offense in the Big 12 and the defense in the SEC," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said on ESPN. "It didn't work out that way."
Working in Alabama's favor was its dominance throughout the season -- all of its victories have been by at least 16 points -- and the fact that no other team has challenged LSU this season.
The Cowboys (11-1) will play in the Fiesta Bowl against Stanford. The other BCS matchups: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl; Clemson vs. West Virginia in the Orange Bowl and Oregon vs. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
Houston will play Penn State, which dropped to the Ticket City Bowl in Dallas following the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal that has overshadowed the Nittany Lions' season.
13 fans hurt at Oklahoma St. Thousands of fans stormed the field and tore down goalposts Saturday night after host Oklahoma State's victory over archrival Oklahoma, leaving at least 12 injured, including two in critical condition, medical authorities in Stillwater, Okla., said early Sunday.
Michael Authement, who heads the command post at emergency medical provider LifeNet EMS, said some fans were trampled and one fell at least 15 feet onto concrete.
"Some were jumping off the stands and hit the field and others got trampled,'' Authement said. "It was a nasty deal."
He said the crowd was so big, it took police at least 45 minutes to clear the field at Boone Pickens Stadium. Authement said the two people with critical injuries were flown to Oklahoma City hospitals.
"This was way worse than the earthquake," Authement said, referring to the magnitude-5.6 quake that hit the same stadium as fans were leaving a game Nov. 5. It was the worst recorded quake in Oklahoma history.
