It’s not exactly a rematch the public was clamoring for — at least outside of Southeastern Conference territory. And it certainly will do nothing to quiet the critics of the Bowl Championship Series or the calls for a college football playoff.

But like it or not, the BCS has ensured that the SEC — home to both schools — will run its streak of national championships to six in a row.

The Cowboys made a late surge by beating Oklahoma 44-10 on Saturday night, and closed the gap between themselves and Alabama in the polls. But it was not enough to avoid the first title game rematch in the 14-year history of the BCS.

The Tigers (13-0) beat the Tide 9-6 in overtime on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama (11-1) finished second in both the Harris and coaches’ polls by a wide enough margin to make up for the fact that Oklahoma State was ahead in the computer ratings.

The Cowboys (11-1), champions of the Big 12, will play in the Fiesta Bowl.

As the power-brokers in college football begin to plot how top-tier bowls will be set up in the future, the 2011 season is once more exposing the flaws in the current system.

Oklahoma State and Alabama, two teams with perfectly good arguments to play for a national championship, wound up fighting over one spot, with subjective voters and mysterious computer ratings — the formulas of which are not even publicly known — doing the choosing.

Alabama, with the nation’s No. 1 defense, won out and will play for its second BCS crown in three years. Oklahoma State, with one of the most potent offenses in the country, gets its first BCS appearance as a consolation prize.