On the Sunday after LSU’s 9-6 overtime win against Alabama in early November, the nation watched intently to see how far the Crimson Tide would drop in the BCS standings.

And when Alabama only fell to No. 3 in the poll, speculation of a rematch between the Tide and Tigers on Jan 9 at the Superdome in New Orleans began.

At the time, Stanford, Oklahoma State and Oregon, among others, were vying for that No. 2 spot. Oklahoma State was ranked No. 2 following Alabama’s loss to LSU, and the Cowboys seemed to be a shoe-in for the National Title game if they could win out.

But a 37-31 loss to unranked Iowa State Nov. 18 pushed the Cowboys out of that No. 2 spot. Meanwhile, Oregon beat Stanford Nov. 12, and USC beat Oregon a week later, pushing Alabama back to that No. 2 spot.

A loss by Oklahoma to Baylor Nov. 19 also ensured the Sooners were out of the BCS title discussion since they had also lost to unranked Texas Tech earlier in the season.

Even with a blowout win against Oklahoma Saturday night, I still have a hard time imagining Oklahoma State could hang with either Alabama or LSU. Actually, I have a hard time thinking anyone other than Alabama or LSU.

But since Alabama moved back up to No. 2 in the polls, there’s been nothing short of a national outcry by certain media outlets against a rematch between Alabama and LSU. As Alabama won out in convincing fashion, the talking heads nonetheless kept repeating how unfair it was for a team to be in the national title game that didn’t even win its own conference.

This, of course, is a moot point. The BCS system is not designed to assure the teams that win their conference a shot at a national title. The BCS is designed to assure that the best two teams in the country have a shot at the national championship.

Have there been flaws in the past in this regard? Sure. The 2000 title game comes to mind — Florida State had no business being in that game instead of Miami. The 2001 title match-up between Miami and Nebraska was also questionable, as many felt Oregon deserved a shot instead of the Cornhuskers.

But this has nothing to do with the 2011 season, as it’s clear to anyone who’s watched this year that LSU and Alabama are superior to anyone else in the country. The idea that Alabama “had their shot” under the current system is irrelevant, because the Crimson Tide is the No. 2 team. Period.

Pundits have also argued that they don’t want a rematch because defensive battles are “boring” and “not good football.” So am I supposed to believe that LSU beating Oklahoma State something to the tune of 45-3 is “good football?”

Let’s be honest. The real reason most of these talking heads don’t want a rematch is because they’re tired of an SEC team winning the national championship every year since 2005. Two SEC teams in the national title game is the ultimate slap in the face to these SEC haters.

But they’re just going to have to get over it, because there isn’t a team out there that can beat Alabama or LSU aside from one of them beating the other.