By Michael Westbrook, The Lafayette Daily Advertiser
What we learned: The SEC appears headed for a sixth consecutive national title.
No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama occupied the top spots for the second consecutive week in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings released Sunday. The top two teams in next Sunday's final BCS standings will meet for the national title on Jan. 9 in New Orleans.
The Tigers and Tide finished the regular season with dominating wins: LSU pounded Arkansas, 41-17 and Alabama crushed Auburn, 42-14. Even if LSU loses to Georgia in Saturday's SEC championship, the Tigers are still expected to play for the BCS title.
Best performance: It's a toss-up between Alabama running back Trent Richardson and LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu. Richardson boosted his Heisman Trophy chances after rushing for a career-high 203 yards on 27 carries and added a five-yard touchdown reception. Mathieu had a team-best eight solo tackles, forced two fumbles and recovered one. His 92-yard punt return for a touchdown was a game-changing play.
Biggest disappointment: Florida quarterback John Brantley arrived at Florida with plenty of promise but finished his career in desultory fashion. Brantley threw three interceptions, two of which led to Florida State touchdowns, and was later knocked out of the game with an apparent concussion in a 21-7 loss.
Florida coach Will Muschamp called his team "soft" after the Seminoles won their first game in Gainesville since 2003. "It falls on one guy's shoulders and that's mine," Muschamp said. "It's going to get corrected and we're going to be fine. We've got a good, young, solid football team."
Looking ahead: Georgia will enter the SEC title game as underdogs, perhaps to everyone but themselves. "If we don't give away points, there's no way they can beat us," Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones told news reporters. Georgia has won 10 consecutive games since starting the season with losses to Boise State and South Carolina.
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