The Front Row with MARK NELKE Nov. 4, 2012

It's official - Alabama's victory over LSU on Saturday night means Barack Obama will be re-elected president over Mitt Romney on Tuesday.

That is, if you believe in linking results of sporting events to the outcome of political races.

According to Paul Myberg of USA Today, in the previous seven meetings between Alabama and LSU, when LSU won (in 1984, '88, 2000, '04), a Republican was elected president. When Alabama won (1992, '96, 2008), it was a Democrat.

A couple others, according to Myberg:

One involves the Washington Redskins in their final home game before an election - if the Redskins won, the incumbent party would retain the White House. That happened for 16 elections in a row (1936-2000) until 2004, when the Redskins lost at home and George W. Bush was re-elected.

But four years ago, the trend returned as the Redskins again lost at home, and two days later a Democrat (Obama) took over the White House.

The other involves the Los Angeles Lakers. Every time the Lakers made it to the NBA Finals during an election year (eight times from 1952-2004), a Republican was voted into the White House. That streak ended in 2008, with the Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals, but Obama won the election.

I WONDERED if that sports/politics connection could be applied to any sporting accomplishments around here. Let's use Sandpoint High's state volleyball results in election years as a test case. We'll start in 1980, the first of the Bulldogs' 14 state titles.

1980 - Sandpoint first at state. Ronald Reagan (Republican) elected president.

1984 - Sandpoint wins fourth state title, and third in a row of what would be five straight titles. Reagan (R) re-elected.

1988 - Sandpoint two and out at state. George H.W. Bush (R) elected.

1992 — Sandpoint second to Madison at state. Bill Clinton (Democrat) elected.

1996 — Sandpoint fails to qualify for state for the first time in 20 seasons. Clinton (D) re-elected.

2000 — Sandpoint wins second straight state title, and 10th overall. George W. Bush (R) elected president.

2004 — Sandpoint ties for fifth. Bush (R) re-elected.

2008 — Sandpoint wins its 14th state title. Barack Obama (D) elected president.

2012 — Sandpoint ties for fifth. President? To be determined.

Conclusion No. 1: In three of the four election years in which Sandpoint won a state title, a Republican was voted into the White House — Reagan being voted in and then re-elected.

Two of the three times Sandpoint either didn’t go to state, or failed to bring home a trophy, the sitting president was re-elected.

Sandpoint did not bring home a trophy this season.

Conclusion No. 2: If people are actually using the results of sporting events to determine who is elected president, we are in deeper trouble than it seems.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.