NEW ORLEANS - Who comes to mind when thinking about the best college football teams of the past 50 or 60 years? Perhaps the trio of Nebraska squads that won the national championship in the mid-90s. Or maybe any of the Alabama defensive powerhouses of 1961, 1979, 1992 and 2009. How about the 2001 Miami team that had 17 players who eventually went in the first round of the NFL draft? Then there are the undefeated Oklahoma teams of the 1950s, the 1976 Pittsburgh squad with Tony Dorsett, and the 2004 USC club featuring Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.

They are worthy contenders all. Now the question is, if No. 1 LSU defeats No. 2 Alabama on Monday in the BCS Championship Game (and granted, that is a mighty big if), do the Tigers’ vault to near the top of this prestigious all-time list?

It is appropriate that LSU is led by a coach nicknamed “The Mad Hatter,” because this question can truly send one’s mind tumbling down the rabbit hole. Is it actually possible that Les Miles — goofy, sentence-mangling, grass-chewing Les Miles — could be the architect of one of the greatest teams in college football history?

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The answer, amazingly, is yes. An LSU victory over Alabama would cap what has unquestionably been such a dominating season by the Tigers that they would have to be considered among the best ever.

All right, once you are through laughing, think about the following facts should LSU win Monday night:

● The Tigers will have defeated Alabama and Nick Saban — he of the two national titles and the reputation of being something of a football genius — twice in slightly more than two months, neither time in Baton Rouge. That alone would be an impressive accomplishment. In order to be one of the best of all time, you have to be far and away the best of your season. If LSU and Alabama are indeed better than the rest of the football world this season (though Oklahoma State would probably disagree with that assessment), and the Tigers are good enough to beat the Tide twice, then how much better is LSU than everybody else?

● LSU will have four victories over teams ranked in the top three (Alabama twice and Arkansas) at the time the Tigers played them and nine wins over teams ranked in the Top 25. Compare that to, say, the 1986 Penn State team, which was an undefeated national champion but beat only two ranked teams.

● The Tigers haven’t just been winning games. For the most part they have been crushing opponents. Other than their three-point victory over Alabama in early November, the Tigers have won every game by double digits. Ten of the victories have been by more than 20 points and seven by 30 or more. Compare that to last year’s national champion Auburn team, which had five victories by a field goal or less.

No. 1 LSU (13-0) Date Opponent Result 9/3 Vs. No. 3 Oregon* W 40-27 9/10 Vs. Northwestern State W 49-3 9/15 @ No. 25 Mississippi State W 19-6 9/24 @ No. 16 West Virginia W 47-21 10/1 Vs. Kentucky W 35-7 10/8 Vs. No. 17 Florida W 41-11 10/15 @ Tennessee W 38-7 10/22 Vs. No. 19 Auburn W 45-10 11/5 @ No. 2 Alabama W 9-6, OT 11/12 Vs. Western Kentucky W 42-9 11/19 @ Mississippi W 52-3 11/25 Vs. No. 3 Arkansas W 41-17 12/3 Vs. No. 12 Georgia# W 42-10 1/9 Vs. No. 2 Alabama% ?? * - At Arlington, Texas # - SEC title game at Atlanta % - BCS title game at New Orleans

● LSU has easily beaten some of the best teams in the country. Oregon was the Pac-12 champ and Rose Bowl winner. But when the Ducks played LSU in the season opener, the Tigers ripped off 24 consecutive points during one span, built a 33-13 lead and won 40-27. West Virginia was the Big East champs and scored a NCAA postseason record 70 points in the Orange Bowl. LSU closed their meeting with 20 consecutive points on the way to a 47-21 victory. And in the SEC championship game against East champion Georgia, a team that came in on a 10-game winning streak, the Tigers rolled to a 42-10 victory in Atlanta. Those three teams combined to go 32-6 this season against opponents not named LSU.

The Tigers have put up these impressive numbers despite a chaotic season that included the suspension of starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson before the season even began, and then a one-game suspension midway through the season of star cornerback and Heisman Trophy finalist Tyrann Mathieu and running back Spencer Ware, the team’s second-leading rusher. Either of those events could have derailed LSU’s undefeated run. Instead, the Tigers never seemed fazed. That is the sign of a team that is mature, cohesive, deep and, most important, extremely talented. Those are precisely the characteristics needed for a team to be considered one of the best ever.