TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- The thought rattled off the interior walls of

Nick Saban

's skull.

The question: Would Alabama's fifth-year coach watch Saturday's SEC championship game between LSU and Georgia, and if so, who would he root for to win?

The outcome could have a direct impact on Alabama's hopes to reach the BCS championship game on Jan. 9 in New Orleans. The top two teams in Sunday's final BCS standings will get to battle for the BCS trophy.

Currently, Alabama is No. 2 in the BCS standings behind No. 1 LSU. A distant No. 3, based on the BCS calculation, is Oklahoma State. The Crimson Tide completed its regular season with a 42-14 win Saturday over rival Auburn.

If Oklahoma State defeats Oklahoma on Saturday, and Georgia defeats LSU, some have suggested it could truly create bedlam in the hunt for the top two BCS spots.

Saban said Monday he had not thought about watching Saturday's SEC championship game yet because this week's agenda is filled with plenty of high school recruiting aimed at reloading his roster.

"That game seems almost far away to me right now," Saban said. "Most games that I watch, I don't root for anybody."

Saban continued. He said he "usually kind of" roots for LSU because he coached there and has a lot of good friends there. He said the same of Michigan State, Ohio State and the Naval Academy -- all former coaching stops.

Then it occurred to him: Saban has a vacation home on Lake Burton in northeast Georgia, and he had just said he often pulls for LSU.

"If there's a whole lot of people at the lake, I might get my house egged for saying that," Saban said referencing the home's location in Bulldogs' country. "I was trying to be diplomatic."

Diplomacy played out at Oklahoma State on Monday where Cowboys coach Mike Gundy addressed the current BCS standings. He was specifically asked about Alabama.

"Alabama lost to what would be the No. 1 team in the country and Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State," Gundy said. "In our situation, if I was doing it fair, I don't know how I could put us in front of them right now."

Saban walked into his Monday press conference dressed in a crimson-colored sport coat wearing a matching striped tie. He quipped he wasn't dressed to impress reporters.

Then he snapped when asked if he would campaign for Alabama's ticket to the BCS championship game.

"I'm not campaigning for anything," Saban said. "What I said after (Saturday's) game was what I believe in my heart, and that's what I'll continue to say. ... Everybody has a full body of work to look at, and I think we should be able to stand pretty reasonably well on that body of work. It is, in my opinion, what the players deserve."

Saban also was asked if he had concerns about voters not wanting an LSU-Alabama rematch.

"The whole thing should be based on who are the best two teams," Saban said. "Isn't that what it's supposed to be? If it's not on that, then it doesn't matter whether we played before or that we are in the same conference. Who are the best two teams? That's the question.

"If the decision gets made on that, then I'll be fine with that. If it gets made on some of this other stuff, then it's not fair to the players or to their players either. If they didn't get picked because of a rematch or whatever, it wouldn't be fair to anybody."

*

Izzy Gould covers Alabama football for the Mobile Press-Register, The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and al.com.

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