Saban Bowl V: #1 LSU @ #2 Alabama

LSU and Alabama will face off Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. Most around the SEC will refer to this game as Saban Bowl five, due to St. Nick winning a title a LSU before he darted off to the NFL. Others around the nation have been touting it as the National Championship of the regular season. This will be the fifth time that the Tigers and Tide have faced off since Nick Saban has been the head man at Alabama. The series is split 2-2 in that time span, so whoever wins will be in the driver's seat. The winner will be picked to win out in the SEC, favored in the SEC Championship game (SEC East is terribly weak this year), and will head into the National Championship game. So needless to say the winner of this game will have a huge leg up. Don't count out the loser though. They could easily finish the season with one loss, and back door their way into the national title game for a rematch. Of course they would need an undefeated StanFord and an undefeated Oklahoma State to lose. Stanford still has to play Oregon, and OSU still has to play rival Oklahoma, so anything can happen. Back to Bama and LSU. Both teams have great defenses, great running backs, run heavy offensive schemes and neither ask their quaterbacks to do too much. So something has to give. Here is my breakdown on who has the advantage by position:

Head Coach: Alabama - It makes me want to throw up saying this due to my loyalty to the Big Orange. There is no one better in the game right now. Because of him Alabama is a NFL factory.

Offense

OL: Push - This is a tough one. Both OL's are huge and pankcake other teams like it is happy hour at IHOP. It's going to be fun watching the offensive and defensive lines for both teams faceoff all game.

RB: Alabama - Trent Richardson - Not much explanation here. He is the best in the game. With another big game here, he might just wrap up the Heisman. The dude has been incredible this year.

QB: LSU - I have to give the edge to Jarrett Lee over AJ. Jarrett has done a great job of managing the game, and not turning the ball over. AJ has thrown some picks this year. I just trust Jarrett Lee more with the ball.

WR: Push - With both teams being run heavy, they don't feature their WRs a ton. Play action will be a huge part of the game for both teams. The winner could come down to which WR corp has a bigger game.

Defense

DL: LSU - Both teams have stout defensive lines. But LSU's is unbelievable. Some have gone on to say it might be one of the best they have ever seen.

LB: Alabama - The LBs for the Tide will all play in the NFL. They all are football smart and fly around the field. Most of them are big enough to line up at DE, if needed, and be successful.

Secondary: Push - Both teams have such a great pass rush, that the secondaries haven't had much to test them. The backfields feature two of the nation's best in Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama) and Tryann Mathiu (LSU).

Special Teams: Alabama - Marquise Maze is one of the best returners in the country. He can change the game in a span of 80 yards in 10 secs. The dude has a feel for returning kicks that you just can't teach.

My prediction: Tennessee over MTSU by a score of...wait a minute my bad, wrong game. The team that turns the ball over the least will win the game. Bama will have an advantage by playing at home. Both fan bases are crazy, and are prabably the two most trash talking fanbases in the SEC. Throwing up as I type this, I can't go against Nick Saban and Alabama at home. Saban always seems to get his teams ready to play, especailly in big games. The winner of Saban Bowl five:


Alabama - 20 LSU-17


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