The ONLY teams that could even come close to beating LSU and Alabama were LSU and Alabama - NOT OSU AND NOT IOWA FUCKING STATE for crissakes.
I think that the official name of the school actually is Iowa Fucking State for Crissakes University.
The Cowboys "didn't come close to beating LSU and Alabama" because the Cowboys were never given a chance to *play* LSU or Alabama. If they had been given that opportunity they would have won and they would be NC right now. The same thing is true for Stanford.
LSU and Alabama played for a NC because the false economy of the BCS rankings system uses circular logic - the best teams come from the best conferences who are the best conferences because they have the best teams.