2011 BCS Standings, Week 10: Alabama Vs. LSU, History And A New Orleans Rematch

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Oct 31, 2011 - This Saturday's LSU-Alabama game is a biggie. How huge? Try this: It's only the 11th time since 1950 that the top two ranked teams met each other in a November or December regular-season game. Let's quickly see how the others went down:

* 1966 Notre Dame 10, Michigan State 10: Ara Parseghian refuses to go for the winning score, settling for the tie that gave the Irish the national title.

* 1967 USC 21, UCLA 20: USC's sensational junior O.J. Simpson rips off a memorable 64-yard touchdown run and the Trojans would go on to win the Rose Bowl and national championship.

* 1969 Texas 15, Arkansas 14: The Longhorns hold off Southwest Conference rival to win the final 1-vs.-2 showdown between two teams featuring exclusively white players.

* 1971 Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31: The Huskers rally to repeat as national champs in a game that draws an estimated 55 million TV viewers.

* 1987 Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 7: The Sooners get the better of their Big Eight rival this time, but loses in the Orange Bowl to upstart Miami.

* 1988 Notre Dame 27, USC 10: The only game that fails to live up to the hype as the Irish pull away in the second half, going on to win their last national title.

* 1991 Miami 17, Florida State 16: Known as Wide Right I, it begins FSU's series of misery against the Hurricanes due to its kickers' inability to convert late-game field goals.

* 1993 Notre Dame 31 vs. Florida State 24: The Irish keep the Seminoles out of the end zone on the final drive, but go on to be shocked the following week by Boston College, allowing the 'Noles to win their first national title.

* 1996 Florida State 24, Florida 21: The Gators suffer a heartbreaker but somehow would get a rematch in the Sugar Bowl, which they win decisively to claim the national championship.

* 2006 Ohio State 42, Michigan 39: The only time in the BCS era that a No. 1 played No. 2 this late in a season but not in a conference championship game.

If history repeats itself, we should have not only a consequential game that settles the national title picture, but a hard-fought, nerve-wracking one as well. Of those 10 previous matchups, only one failed to deliver a close game (1988) and just once (1993) did the winner not go on to play for the national title in a bowl game.

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