Posted on 12/03/2007 11:06:43 AM PST by Bulldawg Fan
Les Miles didn’t need to go to Michigan for a chance to coach a team to victory against Ohio State, Michigan’s archrival. The LSU Tigers, to whom Miles reaffirmed his commitment over the weekend, will play Ohio State for the BCS national championship.
LSU (11-2) climbed five spots Sunday to No. 2 in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, enabling the Tigers to make the same jump in the BCS standings to set up a Jan. 7 date with the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes (11-1) in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
“This is the most astonishing 36 or 48 or 72 hours I think I’ve ever seen in athletics,” said LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman, who has 45 years in coaching and administration.
“Of course, it turned out to be magnificent for LSU. Not only did we get the coach, but we get the chance at the national championship in the same weekend, and of course, going in, we didn’t know either one of those things.”
Miles, a former Michigan player and assistant coach, walked away from a possible offer to coach at his alma mater when he announced Saturday he would stay at LSU.
A few hours later the Tigers defeated Tennessee 21-14 in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, keeping slim hopes alive for a shot at a bigger prize.
When No. 2-ranked West Virginia lost 13-9 to huge underdog Pittsburgh and No. 1-ranked Missouri lost 38-17 to Oklahoma later that night, LSU’s long-shot possibility — described a week earlier by BCS experts — was no longer a desperate daydream.
LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette stayed up until 3 a.m. Sunday, e-mailing the 60 coaches who vote in the USA Today poll and as many Harris Interactive voters as possible. He set forth the case for LSU to be in the championship game. Miles made appearances on national TV after sunrise, doing the same.
By early Sunday afternoon, LSU was No. 2 in the USA Today poll. The Tigers, who did not receive a first-place vote in last week’s Top 25, received 11 this week.
LSU’s move ahead of Missouri and West Virginia, plus Georgia, Kansas and Virginia Tech, was a promising sign that the Tigers would be in the top two when the BCS standings were announced Sunday night.
“It was done at that point,” said Brad Edwards of ESPN, a BCS analyst who spelled out LSU’s long-shot hopes the previous weekend.
A jump from No. 5 to No. 2 in the Harris poll followed the larger jump by the Tigers in the USA Today poll Sunday. Those polls and an average of six BCS computer rankings are equal parts of the BCS formula.
“The only surprise to me was that LSU was such a comfortable No. 2 in both polls,” Edwards said. “I obviously expected them to be in that position, but I thought there would be a lot more support for all the different contenders out there.”
LSU finished No. 2 in the computers, trailing Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes moved from No. 3 in the BCS to No. 1 largely on the strength of a majority of first-place votes in the polls.
“I knew that LSU had the computer advantage on Oklahoma and USC,” Edwards said, citing schedule strength and quality victories as key components. “In my mind it was only a matter of whether a team like Virginia Tech might be able to be ranked ahead of LSU.” Edwards said when he saw LSU’s margin in the USA Today poll — and that Oklahoma, not Virginia Tech, was No. 3 in that poll — he knew the Tigers were a lock for No. 2 in the BCS standings.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel voted his team No. 1 and LSU No. 2.
Miles voted LSU No. 1 and Ohio State No. 2.
You made me smile!
WHOwaii would not have a winning record in the SEC.
*****
My point proven in 3.9 seconds, lol
“p.s. Is there anyone whinier than an SEC fan”
Anyone from the big(haha)10
Quarterbacks with broken fingers should be benched as soon as the injury occurs.
Would've been a different season otherwise for TrojanNation.
Best teams in NCAA right now: Georgia, USC, Oklahoma (hurts me just to type that) and (hey, they ARE undefeated, and the "big boy" schools backed out of playing them, so it's not their fault...) Hawaii.
But I'm with you on this one . . . No team should be considered for a national title if it comes from a conference that doesn't have a championship game. You'd think the voters should have learned this lesson after last year's debacle for Ohio State, eh?
Universities prepare their students for a variety of vocational and professional pursuits - sports is one of those. If you want to play professional football, a college team is where you prepare.
If the Dawgs can perform well in their Bowl game, maybe the AP voters can crown them national champs...
I ain’t whining... we’re in the BCS Championship. WHOwaii is in the Whatever Bowl.
Hawaii's opponents went a combined 53 wins & 93 losses....
While I think the Wahoos are a good team...they aren't worthy of the Top 10...let alone the number one spot.
Maybe so. But not the way you described it. In NO, they actually LOSE $ if LSU plays in the Sugar Bowl. Not as much hotel/bar/resteraunt revenue. Baton Rouge is just an hour north. No need to spend a couple of days in the big easy. That story is the local papers every time LSU plays in the Sugar bowl.
October 25, 2008, Baton Rouge. LA, Georgia at LSU. Mark that day.
What in the world does next year’s game have to do with the national championship game in January?
“Maybe so. But not the way you described it. “
Good point. LSU-OSU is just a bigger TV draw. The network would have been very upset with a WVU - Missouri matchup.
“You’d think the voters should have learned this lesson after last year’s debacle for Ohio State, eh?”
Yep, because we all know that a team like OSU could win it all! After all, look at 2002 when Miami was so dominant, there’s no way... ooops.
I hate the BCS also but, your Bulldogs better put this behind them and start thinking about Hawaii. (remember Boise St./OU)
What amazes me is that there are people that can defend it w/ a straight face.
What amazes me is that there are people out there that act as if it is the end of the world because there isn't a playoff in college football. Look, I love college football, but look; no one will care, playoff or not.
Did you win your conference? Did you beat your rival? Did you win your bowl game? If so, that's a pretty good season, and that's all the fans care about. I'm just not sure how having a playoff (or a BCS championship, for that matter) really affects much of anything. No one cares. Didn't matter a hill of beans that Lloyd Carr won a national title at Michigan; it just mattered that he couldn't beat Ohio State.
Sorry, I really disagree with this premise.
Ohio St. had the best conference record in the Big 10. They win the conference. No champioship game needed.
USC tied for the best conference record in the Pac 10. They beat ASU head-to head. They win the conference. No championship game needed.
Conference championship games exist mainly to be revenue sources. Determining the conference's best team is incididental, if it occurs at all.
To begin with, a conference's 2 best teams don't necessarily play in the title game if they are from the same artificially created division (please see Oklahoma/Texas in most Big XII seasons). Sometimes a conference's 2nd best team is locked out when it loses a tiebreaker to another team from their division (please see Georgia this year in the SEC).
Undefeated Nebraska pooched a Big XII championship game against a 5 loss Texas team. Despite this, they still played in the National Title Game. What did the Big XII championship game mean that year? Absolutely nothing. Did this weekend's SEC championship conference game settle anything? Nope.
LSU struggled to beat a mediocre Tennessee team. Yawn.
What if UT had won? Would that have made the SEC a stronger or weaker conference? Wouldn't UT have then been more deserving than Georgia for the BCS title game? (Beat them head-to-head, won division, won conference)
I blame the SEC and Arkansas for this entire BCS mess. If the SEC hadn't been greedy and pulled Arkansas away from the Southwest conference:
1) The SEC wouldn't have expanded into a 12 team, 2 division conference.
2) The SEC wouldn't have needed a bogus conference championship game.
3) The Big XII would still be the Big 8.
4) The Southwest Conference would still exist.
5) The Big Least would not exist for football.
6) None of the other conferences would have followed the SEC's lead of stealing teams, realigning into divisions and creating conference championship games.
7) The stooopid overtime rule would never have been needed and football games could still end in ties (as God intended).
8) The Cotton Bowl would still be a big deal.
9) The Fiesta bowl would still be just a Phoenix businessman's greedy dream.
10) Conferences would still be sending their champs to their traditionally affiliated bowl games.
11) East Coast sportwriters and weenie computer geeks - neither group ever actually played football - wouldn't have such a profound influence on a weekly basis into our sports conversations.
How is the current system any better than the old "mythical championship?" A college football national champion is still just a myth - no matter how many confernce championship games, computer weenies, or ESPN talking heads you throw at it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.