Tigers, Tide in Showdown for No. 1

Not much separates the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Bowl Championship Series rankings after nine weeks of the college football season. We'll see on Saturday how much separates them on the field when the schools meet in Alabama (8:00pm ET) in a showdown for top spot in the BCS standings.

Both 8-0 on the season and tied atop the standings in the West Division of the Southeastern conference, the winner of Saturday's matchup will be No. 1 in next week's BCS rankings, while the loser is expected to drop below one or more of the other three contending undefeated teams: Oklahoma State, Stanford, Boise State.

Right now it's LSU that sits atop the BCS standings, but they'll be on the road on Saturday and entering the game as small underdogs on the college football betting lines at Oddsmaker. On the season the Tigers have covered the spread in six of their eight contests, with the Crimson Tide going 7-1 ATS through their schedule.

The Tigers were on a bye last week; they last played on October 22 against Auburn when they cruised to a 45-10 victory at home. Jarrett Lee saw the bulk of the action at quarterback for LSU in that game, completing 14 of 20 pass attempts for 165 yards with two touchdowns. Jordan Jefferson threw three passes in the contest, completing two of them for 54 yards and a score in the blowout victory.

Kenny Hillard ran for a pair of touchdowns for the Tigers in their win over Auburn, and Rueben Randle caught five balls for 106 yards and two scores on the day.

The Crimson Tide also got last weekend off, beating up on Tennessee by a 37-6 score in their last action on October 22. AJ McCarron went 17 of 26 for 284 yards passing for Alabama that day with one touchdown strike and one interception, and Trent Richardson rushed for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns on his 17 carries.

Last season's matchup between LSU and Alabama went to the Tigers, as they won 24-21 at home as a 7-point underdog on the college football betting lines. Jefferson went 10 of 13 for 141 yards passing with one touchdown in that contest for LSU, while Randle picked up 125 receiving yards and a score on just three catches.

Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy threw for 223 yards with two touchdowns and one interception that day, and Mark Ingram ran for 97 yards and a TD in the loss.

The Tigers are 3-2 straight up over their last five meetings with the Crimson Tide, but they're just 1-3-1 against the spread vs. Alabama in those contests. OVER bettors have seen the OVER/UNDER go 4-0 with one push in the last five games.

Oklahoma State, No. 3 in the BCS standings, hosts Kansas State this weekend, while No. 4 Stanford is at Oregon State, and No. 5 Boise State visits UNLV. Head to Oddsmaker for all the betting lines for this weekend's college football matchups.