LSU and Alabama will meet again in the College Football championship game, after the Crimson Tide managed the way to edge out Oklahoma State University for the number 2 spot by a narrow margin.  But while there’s no question regarding LSU’s right to play the big game, many fans and followers are asking themselves, why is Alabama playing the final game and not Oklahoma State if both teams finished the season at 11-1? 

Oklahoma State was hoping to close the gap and finally displace the Crimson Tide to the No. 3 spot after scoring a convincing 44-10 win over Oklahoma on Saturday night. However, statistics also play a vital role in the BCS rankings.

Alabama earned the right to play No. 1 Louisiana State in the final Bowl Championship Series on Jan. 9 after closing the season with an 11-1 record. The Crimson Tide’s only loss happened on November 5th when the LSU Tigers (13-0) beat the Tide 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa.  But regardless of that loss, Alabama took the No. 2 spot in the Harris and coaches’ national polls, and earned each of its 11 victories by at least 16 points, which puts the team in second place in the general season standings by a slight margin. Another key factor playing against Oklahoma is the double OT loss against Iowa State last month (37-31).  LSU finished the season with a perfect score of 1,000. Alabama was No. 2 at .9419 and Oklahoma State was third at .9333. Now the Cowboys, champions of the Big 12, will face Stanford from the Pac-12 in the Fiesta Bowl.

The final BCS game will feature the first title rematch in the 14-year history of the championship and the sixth consecutive BCS championship for the SEC. The NCAA Bowl play begins Dec. 17, and concludes Jan. 9 with the title game. Here’s a schedule featuring the 2011 NCAA major bowl lineup:

Rose Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012, 5:00 PM ET): Oregon vs. Wisconsin
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2, 2012, 8:30 PM ET): Stanford vs. Oklahoma State.
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 3, 2012, 8:30 PM ET): Michigan vs. Virginia Tech.
Orange Bowl (Jan. 4, 2012, 8:30 PM ET): Clemson vs. West Virginia.
Cotton Bowl (Jan. 6, 2012, 8:00 PM ET): Kansas St vs. Arkansas.
Godaddy.com Bowl (Jan. 8, 2012 | 9:00 PM ET): Arkansas St vs. N Illinois
BCS championship (Jan. 9, 2012, 8:30 PM ET): LSU vs. Alabama

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