Dear Alabama,

I still don’t believe your team deserved to play for the crystal ball over Oklahoma State, but the positive-minded man that I am has found something about the LSU-Alabama rematch for which to be thankful.

I know Rammer Jammer Nation will surely argue that their team’s dominant (yes, I certainly admit that it was a one-sided evening) win in the BCS Championship game is evidence enough that they belonged in the game. While I agree that they won convincingly, that win only proved that they performed well enough in that game, not that it performed well enough to deserve to play in it.

However, this game, and your win, did a wonderful job of shining the spotlight on a flawed system. It leaves two teams with identical records in the loss column and a tied head-to-head match-up, each having won in the opponent’s home state (although only LSU having won in the in the opponent’s home stadium). Alabama brings home the crystal ball simply for having won last — not most. LSU had one more win and a much more impressive resume than its opponent as it walked out of the stadium, however will be without a title simply because it was required to beat a lower-ranked team twice while only having to lose to them once.