The men lost in Starkville in a game that ended much closer than expected, with LSU still having a chance in it's final possessions. Coach Johnson got a bench warning within the first two minutes of play, a Technical at the end of the game, and also learned how to levitate. I hate to make it sound like Saturday's home game against Kentucky is a make-or-break moment for the season, but it is.

I'm not sure what to do with TE DeAngelo Peterson's comments about LSU not using it's game plan or most of it's practiced plays against Bama other than to agree that the offensive playcalling was baffling. As much as I'd like to just erase the game from my mind, the offensive coaching situation going to keep coming up during the offseason, especially when it comes time to replace the open staff spot that was Billy Gonzales's.

Speaking of the oddities of the BCS game, I know this counts as ancient in internet years, but if you haven't heard it give a listen to a radio interview T-Bob Hebert gave in Georgia last week if you still think there was a locker room incident.

Speaking of T-Bob, he and Jarrett Lee were named Grand Marshalls for the Krewe of Zeus parade.

Meanwhile at the Senior Bowl, S Brandon Taylor is doing his best to impress the NFL scouts. The game is at 3pm Saturday on NFLNet. LSU has 3 players on the South roster: Peterson, Taylor, and OL Will Blackwell.

An old familiar name popped up in this recap of the East-West shrine game: DT Akiem Hicks.

LSU is spending 8 million on some cosmetic upgrades to the North and West exteriors of Tiger Stadium. I guess those parking permit fees aren't going away any time soon...

4 former Tigers are on the Super Bowl rosters this year: CB Corey Webster and WR Michael Clayton with New York and RBs Stevan Ridley and Kevin Faulk for New England. In addition, Chad Jones (WOOOOO!) is still on the Giant's special Injured Reserved list and Ryan Perrilloux, who at last count has been signed and released by the Giants EIGHTEEN TIMES this season, could still make their roster. Having players on both rosters guarantees LSU it's 11th straight Super Bowl victory. UPDATE: Nope, they signed and cut him AGAIN. Kevin Faulk, being the elder statesman of the group, took some time to reflect on his career.

We're just 21 days from first pitch as the team begins their first scrimmages today. The Coach's poll (which is the one ESPN uses for TV) has 6 SEC teams in the top 25, with UF and SCar starting 1-2, and LSU settling in at #14. Future division-mate TAMU is ranked 6th. Baseball America also released their Top 25 with 7 SEC teams (LSU at #8) and some great team previews. The Poster is also out for this season. While I think of myself as a bit more well-rounded LSU sports fan, change up some of the detail's from AUPPL's love letter to college baseball and it could really apply to any fan of the Ping (also check out his early predictions for a good preview of auburn baseball this year).

In our continuing efforts to be your number 1 source for news on LSU club sports (hockey, bass fishing, etc.) we bring you news that the LSU Lacrosse season begins today with a home match against TAMU, or rather it would have if the UREC fields weren't flooded. LSU competes in the MCLA's Lone Star Alliance South Division and has games from now through the beginning of April.

We're less than a week from signing day, so prepare yourself emotionally, and brush up on your vocabulary.

After being sighted at football preseason practice, Jamarcus Russell is back on campus this semester to finish his degree.

ESPN The Magazine has a great story in next month's issue about the backstory of the recruit we missed out on, Landon Collins.

Who's the most sought after QB for next season in the NFL? Matt Flynn, of course.

College realignment has wide reaching effects beyond football. Take for example the story of San Diego State's epic journey to a basketball game at Wyoming.

Thoughts and prayers this weekend are with Skip Bertman and his family on the loss of his daughter, Dr. Lisa Jo Pate, to cancer at the age of 44.

Tonight at 7:00 CT the LSU Tigers 12-7 (2-3) travel to Starkville, MS to take on the 16th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs 16-4 (3-2). It is the first of two meetings this season between the teams, and should be a little bit harder to predict what might happen.

Of course, the favorite is the Bulldogs, both because they have a superior record and are playing at home. But LSU has caused problems for the Bulldogs, and actually split the series last year despite that being only win for LSU from January 15th onward. In the other game of the series, LSU lost by only a point at home. It would seem reasonable to say that LSU played their best against Mississippi State, considering how lopsided some of the other series games ended up.

Renardo Sidney is expected to be the main piece of the offense again for Mississippi State, as he was responsible for 24 points last year, though it was a disappointing year for him with numerous on and off the court problems. Arnett Moultrie also should provide a scoring punch for the Bulldogs, as he leads the team in scoring as well as rebounding. Dee Bost is the senior point guard for the Bulldogs, and is always capable of going off for 30 points.

The last time I saw Mississippi State play was against Baylor in December. It was actually quite an impressive performance by MSU, though they ended up losing the semi-road game in Dallas. The game was close throughout but it seemed like fatigue was the reason they weren't able to keep up in the final minutes before they ultimately lost 54-52.

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It was the first of the three games that I dubbed "Judgement Week" for LSU, and it was a loss. That is, of course, referring to the previous game against the Florida Gators last Saturday. Before I jump into a little bit of what happened during the game, I'd like to point out how the postseason might be affected by Johnny O'Bryant's injury.

As it stands right now, we've played relatively poorly since O'Bryant went down with a broken finger. In the eyes of the NCAA selection committee, injuries are taken into account when judging teams. If we don't win some games soon, it might be the NIT committee that will have to judge us. However, the point that needs to be made is that if we do get Johnny O'Bryant back and playing, it could help us more than from just a production standpoint.

The way they judge injuries is that they must have missed time, the team must have played worse because of it, and after a player's return they returned to playing at a superior level. It's easy to see with players like Jared Sullinger. Ohio State clearly wasn't as good without him, and have played pretty well since getting him back. In LSU's case, we've gone 2-3 thus far since losing O'Bryant. So long as we get hot at the right time, it's a point that Trent Johnson should make if we do end up back on the bubble.

As for the game against Florida, the final ended up pretty much where I expected it to. 12 points gave LSU the win ATS, but it's not much of a consolation at all since it was still a 12 point loss.

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As some of y'all may or may not know, my start in this whole sports-writing game was with Tiger Rag Magazine, circa 2002. And in the two-and-a-half years I worked there, I was lucky enough to work with, learn from and even briefly fill in for, one of the most thorough, enthusiastic, professional and connected recruiting reporters/analysts in the business, Sonny Shipp. In the past few years, Tiger Rag has moved off of the Scout.com network (I can actually remember when it was theinsiders.com), but Sonny has remained as one of the network's chief analysts and scouts for the Louisiana/East Texas region and one of the moderators of the LSU affiliate, Tiger Sports Digest with Shea Dixon and Randy Rosetta. And, he was nice enough to answer a couple of questions for us on LSU's recruiting class of 2012.

1. We're at just about a week to National Signing Day, LSU has a handful of scholarship spots left. What players are the coaches targeting and which ones are realistic possibilities?

At the top of the list you have Mario Edwards and the big question here is will he follow in his father's footsteps or will he carve out his own path. Shea Dixon had some good insight from Mario Sr. following the official visit this past weekend and it looks like it's going to be a NSD announcement that Tiger fans will have to wait on.

The other big need is Cordarrelle Patterson because of Rueben Randle's decision to go pro then you have Jeremy Liggins due to the Gunner Kiel fiasco.

Kwon Alexander would be another big fish to add to the haul as well as Corey Thompson and what a finish that would be if LSU landed those five guys. Odds are they will not but it looks like it will go down to the wire.

2. How do you see the rest of this class filling out?

I think they will finish up with Patterson and possibly Alexander from the list above then turn to some in-state guys with possibly Jacoby Briscoe as a DL and Alonzo Moore as a DB. Those are some guys I expect to get late looks this week.

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Another week, another shake up of the Powerpoll. As always, keep an eye out on Garnett and Black Attack for the results from the SEC blogs.

1. Kentucky- No surprise here. The Wildcats pulled out a tough win over Alabama and don't show any signs of slowing down.

2. Vanderbilt- Despite losing a close overtime home game against Mississippi State, the 'Dores move up to #2 after a blowout of at Alabama.

3. Mississippi State- The Bulldogs would be #2 if not for a loss against Mississippi earlier in the week. They've played like a solid ranked team for most of the year.

4. Florida- Only one game this week, and it was a win over LSU, so they slide up a spot.

5. Mississippi- Surprisingly, I put Mississippi up here. The Rebels have responded nicely after a double OT loss to Auburn with two straight wins. They have played well since being destroyed by LSU.

6. Alabama- Based on the Vanderbilt game, Alabama would be lower, but based on the Kentucky game, they might be deserving of a better spot. However, the lack of wins in either game moves the Tide towards the middle of the pack.

7. Tennessee- An out of conference win over UConn doesn't move them in the SEC standings, but it did show how talented Jarnell Stokes is.

8. Arkansas- Another out of conference win for the SEC, as the Hogs took down Michigan in an up and down game. They were only inches away from defeat after leading virtually the entire game, but the final 3 pointer wouldn't go for the Wolverines.

9. LSU- If not for the big wins by the above two teams, the Tigers would be up a little bit higher. They stopped their losing streak by beating Auburn in overtime, but fell on the road to Florida. Justin Hamilton continues to be the heart and soul of the team.

10. Georgia- A similar week for the UGA Bulldogs as they beat Tennessee in overtime, but fell to Mississippi.

11. Auburn- The other Tigers end their streak of overtimes with a win over South Carolina. They will probably be a pesky team for the rest of the season.

12. South Carolina- Only one SEC team is still winless in league play, and that's the Gamecocks. It doesn't get any easier with Alabama and Mississippi coming next week.

If this is indeed judgement week for LSU, then it makes sense to think of this game as a chance for the team to make their opening statements. The 14-4 (2-1) Gators have been a very shaky road team so far this season, winning only 1 of 5 in true road games. At home, however, they are yet to lose a game, though they really haven't gone against a very good home slate just yet.

The bad news for the Florida Gators is that Patric Young will be playing, but it won't be at 100%. Tendonitis has been bothering the center, and on a team with such little forward depth they need all the help they can get against the big LSU team. He is expected to play, though perhaps less than his normal playing time and possibly at a lower level due to the nagging injury.

The guard depth for Florida should provide some good back up though. Kenny Boynton, Erving Walker, Mike Rosario, and Brad Beal make up one of the best core set of guards in the country. Combined, three of them are McDonald's All Americans. They average, combined, over 50 points a game, while three of them shoot 3's better than 40% on the season so far. Kenny Boynton leads the way with over 18 points a game, followed by Beal at 14 a game and Walker at 12 a game.

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