LSU's schedule--an update for those interested

Hey all, a while back I did a post here outlining the potential for LSU to bust history wide open with wins over 4 final-ranked top ten teams in addition to 6 final-ranked top 25 teams. I noted only a very small handful of teams has ever gone undefeated against either one, and NO team has ever done both in the same season.

Unfortunately for me, Alabama in the BCS CG takes away the chance for that epic season which would've had to have been considered the greatest season ever, eclipsing 1995 Nebraska and 2000 Oklahoma and the others I referenced who achieved one or the other. We needed Oklahoma State (or anybody we hadn't already played) for that final top ten team. Despite the fact that I disagree with how this played out (won't get into "fair" or "deserving" here) and am livid about the rematch pulling the rug out from under the dream season I was hoping for, I thought I'd share this little bit of cool news with everybody.

I mentioned in the other thread that final rankings are more indicative of the real strength of an opponent and prefer to use them over game-time rankings. Nevertheless game-time rankings have SOME worth, as they can account for injuries, teams mentally folding up shop and packing it in, etc. That said, LSU has already made history by defeating the most opponents ranked at game-time in college football history. I'm not talking LSU history.....I mean ALL history.

To date, 8 of LSU's 13 opponents have been ranked when we played them. Click here to see all teams who played at least 6 game-time ranked opponents (I did 6+ so the page didn't get so long by including < 6). That one is sorted by win percentage. You can see 2011 LSU is the only team to ever go 8-0 against game-time ranked foes. Notice that only FOUR teams in college football history even went 7-0. And notice who the teams are.....Oklahoma, Tennessee, Michigan, and Ohio State.....all traditional superpowers in the top 10 rated programs of all time.

Now, just for kicks, click here to see the same thing (6 or more wins vs. game-time ranked opponents), only this time sorted by total games played. You can see that only one team has ever played more than 8 such opponents. It's 2002 Southern Cal, and they went 7-2 against them. Other than USC, you can see there's only 12 other teams besides 2011 LSU who has ever played 8 such opponents, and you can also see we're the only ones to go win all 8. Also, check out who's sitting up there with the fairly elite 7-1 crowd........2007 LSU.

Unfortunately, the bowl will not give us a chance to put further distance on that record by giving us a 9th different team (and would keep my other hope alive as well). In that previous post, I discounted Auburn's 2010 campaign with wins vs. 7 final-ranked opponents because they played South Carolina twice, so they only really beat 6 of those teams. I guess it would be hypocritical to count Bama twice for LSU, so I won't, for my purposes here.

BUT. Kinda cool, huh? Our 2011 Tigers have already done something no team in history has ever accomplished. Billy, Poseur, Richard, Paul, et al.....if you're reading this, I hope y'all shout this from the mountain tops. No, we're not done yet and we're not satisfied, but right now this is a noteworthy achievement, I think. And about the rematch instead of getting OSU and a shot at "final-ranked" all-time greatness.......I'll just console myself with two beatings of Alabama in one season.

And just as a side note.......I don't care who they send to play us in NOLA, we ain't losing. I don't care if Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints read their schedules wrong and show up to play us, it ain't happening. Bama is going to long for the days of 9-6 by the time this one is over with.