I certainly do feel bad for the rest of the nation outside SEC country in that they're going to have to deal with all the retarded folk who use the title game as yet another example of OMGLOLWTF SEC domination of the whole universe!!!!11!!!1!!!

We'll try to keep it levelheaded here; and in my pregame commentary I was in no way trying to merely be conservative in picking the Tigers 14-13, I honestly had no belief whatsoever that we could put up six scoring drives on the best CFB defense in years. The argument that "they haven't played anyone" more or less rang hollow after Kansas put Va Tech away in the Orange Bowl; and yes, I know any ACC game in the BCS should be chalked up to the opponent, but still...I'm still flabbergasted.

And the consensus got it right. When we were up 38-17, I found myself thinking "My god, the average message board imbecile got it right." Well, whatever. You'll never hear me complaining. One of our regular commenters got pretty close with a 31-17 prediction over on SMQ's page. So hats off, crep!

(While you're over at SMQ, check out his great "Chain-link victories" post today, showing things like how the transitive property of victories can lead to Grinnell over LSU.)

Anyway, I participated in the last CFB Weekly Podcast of the season. We discussed the title game and I was asked to pick the winner if the 2007 Tigers took on the 2003 title team. Not sure about you folks, but I'd give that one to the 2003 squad. Miles has proven plenty, and I probably owe him an apology for some heated commentary after the Ar-Kansas game, but in the end I just trust a Saban-coached squad more at this point. Now, give Les a month to prepare for that game and I suppose he could pull out even with anybody, so who the heck knows. But that 2003 defense was tremendous, led by DT Chad Lavalais (pictured, right, courtesy USA Today), Marquise Hill, Marcus Spears, Corey Webster, etc. etc. etc.

Anyway, you can get the 2007 stats HERE and the 2003 stats HERE. Do the comparison yourself. Rekindle those memories of 2003 yourself. Then tell me who you think would win? This year's offense was obviously the best we have ever put together, so I'm sure it'd be close, at the very least.

Catch the video of Les on the Best Damn Sports Show here.

In basketball news, our SEC Opener did not go so well, as we lost 61-39 to Mississippi State. We shot 14-66 (21%) from the field. What's the opposite of "superlative"? Because I wouldn't have enough to describe John Brady's coaching ability. I don't know if they closed the dozens-of-pages-long "Fire John Brady" thread on TigerDroppings, but the sentiment's still there.

Joel from Rocky Top Talk has once again done the hard work and put together his animated drive chart of the BCS Title game, so go on and relive last night's glory HERE

Feels great the second time around, too!

Clearly, the SEC Speed thing was overblown. Best I can tell, no one saw it coming (with the exception of SMQ and possibly Pete Fiutak at CFN): the SEC isn't a bunch of Nancy Boys who can only outrun other teams to victory; LSU, at least, can win - and has won - by simply being more physical. We pointed it here three days ago, to wit:

Well, yeah. That's pretty much what we did. Took an early punch, got up and rolled off 31 unanswered without a single big-yardage play. Let's examine some post-game analysis from the media. Mid game from CFN's Pete Fiutak:

Later, also from Fiutak (with admittedly a couple comments in between about our getting handled at times):

Post game from ESPN's Mark Schlabach:

And so on.

So congratulations, Les Miles. You're 34-6 in three years, with an SEC Title and a National Title - whether or not it required some divine intervention - and three rather dominating bowl performances in a row. We're glad you stayed.

Meanwhile, LSU is by far and away the first place team in the final AP Poll. 60 1st place votes to Georgia's 3, USC's 1, and Kansas' 1.

vs

After a month, it is finally upon us - our Fighting Tigers will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes for the national title, and the only team in college football to own two crystal ball trophies. Kickoff's at 8pm Eastern on Fox.

The talking heads have weighed in, with the clear consensus being:

• First, that it is unequivocally impossible for Ohio State to come out and get rolled for a second straight year; the Buckeyes have learned their lesson and Jim Tressel would never let that happen. They've been steaming over it for a year.
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• Second, that the Buckeyes are by no means inferior to LSU in the speed department, and all this talk of "SEC Speed" is just garbage.
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• Third, Jim Tressel is a far better coach than Les Miles.
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• Fourth, that because a 100% healthy LSU team is simply more talented than Ohio State, none of the above matters and LSU wins anyway on the strength of the home crowd.
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I love gauging the consensus because much of it is often wrong, when examining it after the fact. So mark it down: surely a couple of the above points will be proven incorrect tomorrow (most likely the final one, simply because SO MANY people are picking LSU and the favorite has simply not acquitted itself well at all in these title games).

Reading through the predictions (see talking heads link above for one set of examples), it's gotten customary to see experts forecasting a total score in the range of mid-40s to 50s. The two things I haven't seen predicted anywhere (which, incidentally, leads me to believe it's far more likely to happen) are: 1) an Ohio State blowout, and 2) an LSU victory with both teams struggling to attain double digits in points. Now, no 7-6 score is ever really all that likely, but in the case of these two teams I really feel like a final score in the 14-13 range is by no means out of the question.

My two biggest worries, in order, are:

1. Offensive line's ability to protect Flynn
   
2. Defensive line's inability to get pressure on Boeckman, resulting in his finding open receivers downfield.

I think the punters will be busy tomorrow. Godspeed, Patrick Fisher!

LSU, 14-13.

Comments? Predictions? Come one, come all, and weigh in with your own thoughts! Be as crazy as you'd like, no one's going to remember after the fact if you're wrong, and you'll get showered with accolades from near and far if you're right.

One of the benefits of having a roommate who works for Fox Sports is that I get lots of statistical goodies sent to me. Now, everyone knows that Ohio State is 0-8 against the SEC in bowl games (what the hell the 1977 Alabama-Ohio State tussle has to do with the 2007 LSU-Ohio State matchup is beyond me), but Did You Know:

• Of the five teams who have made back-to-back BCS Title Game appearances - FSU 98-99, FSU 99-00, Oklahoma 03-04, USC 04-05 - four of them have lost the repeat appearance? FSU in 99 is the only team to buck that trend, and Oklahoma is the only team with a loss in both those appearances.
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• Among receivers with 50 receptions, OSU's Brian Robiskie has the 4th highest yards-per-catch average in the nation at 17.7.
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• Ohio State has allowed only TWO rushing TDs all year? For all the damage Illinois did on the ground, Juice wound up with his 4 TDs through the air. Anyway, since 1996 (as far back as Stats, Inc. went in this), the mere 2 TDs allowed is the lowest total any team has put up (a few have yielded 3).
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• On the flip side, LSU leads the nation with 9 different players having scored a rushing TD this year. And our 34 rushing TDs this year is 5th highest in I-A (aka FBS). So which will give, the LSU ground game or the OSU rushing defense?
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• LSU has scored 21 or more points in 20 consecutive games, 2nd in the nation to Hawaii's 25. Ah wait, Hawaii's streak is D-U-N. That means we're #1. Only one team (Illinois) scored more than 17 all year on Ohio State, so once again, which will give?
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• Stats points out that Jacob Hester has gotten progressively better by down this year, with a 4.3ypc average on 1st down (114-487), a 5.2 average on 2nd down (59-308), and an 8.1 average on 3rd down (27-219). This is a bit misleading, however, as Hester's massively aberrational 87-yard TD run against La Tech was on 3rd down. Absent that, his average would actually be 4.7 (26-122).
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• Tiger fans know to fear not if we're behind going into the 4th quarter (unfortunately the logic can't convince my heart to quit pounding anyway), and for good reason - we're 2nd in the nation in 4th quarter point differential at +83 (136-53). Oklahoma is first at +91.
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• We're 3rd in the nation in turnover margin at +18 (15 gives vs 33 takes). Also tied for #1 in fewest fumbles lost with 3.
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• For all the supposed deterioration of our defense over the last month and change, LSU is 2nd in the country in opponents' completion percentage, yielding only 46.4%. Arkansas, of all teams, is first at 45.7%.
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• As this is Bo Pelini's last game roaming the sidelines for the Tigers, I figured I'd finish with a tip of the hat to him. Since he took over as defensive coordinator in 2005, LSU has held its opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards 26 times, good for #1 in the nation (tied with Florida). Even with all our frustration after that Arkansas game, Bo still deserves a well-earned tip of the hat for the above accomplishment.
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In other news, did you know that Les Miles is an idiot? (HT: MW) Because, you see, I haven't heard anyone ever assert that, so it's news to me. Definitely a first. I guess I'd been so deep in the Miles-to-Einstein comparisons that I just didn't even know such blaspheming could exist.

Essentially, forget about speed or strength or talent or home field or any of the other stuff - the only thing this game is going to boil down to is the simple fact that we've got a moron roaming our sidelines, ergo our hide is cooked. Why even bother to show up and play the game?

/sarcasm off

SMQ has his typically excellent preview pieces up for the BCS Title game. Part 1 is here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here. I posted a response to Part 1 on the thread, in brief: I merely take exception to his characterization of our passing game (I think he's being a bit too favorable). Again, I just think that the onus is on Flynn (and RP, if necessary) to show us that he can be accurate if called upon to throw the ball more than 20 yards downfield.

Straight from the coaches' mouths: tomorrow night, we will see Ryan Perrilloux mixed into the game plan, akin to the way things were at the beginning of the season. 10 plays, plus or minus a few depending on the flow is what we should expect.

What remains to be seen is whether it's all options and keepers or if he's given the all-clear to let fly downfield.

Nebraska fans far and wide will be watching and likely cheering for LSU (or cheering for our defense, at least) as their new head coach Bo Pelini will be calling our defensive shots tomorrow night. In that vein, Brandon at the MidwestCoastBias blog asked me a few questions to get my opinion on Bo, and I obliged with my answers here. Dear faithful couple readers, I'd be curious to know your thoughts on Mr. Pelini especially the positive and negative in-game traits which I addressed. Did I leave anything out? Get anything wrong, in your view? No need to be gentle!

Less relevant for tomorrow but great for LSU nonetheless, we picked up a five star recruit over the weekend, CB Patrick Johnson of Florida. On a down note, we evidently missed the boat entirely on arguably the top recruit in the country, QB Terrelle Pryor of Pennsylvania, who gained MVP honors in the high school US Army All-American Bowl this weekend. Win some, lose some.

Lastly, The Golden Band from Tigerland is trying to raise $5mm for a new band hall by August 30th, an amount which will be matched by the State of Louisiana if the deadline is met. Head over there and donate if you're able, and feel free to send the link along to as many fellow Tiger fans as you can.

NBCSports.com is doing a "Blogger Bowlnanza" in which they're interviewing bloggers from the respective schools for each of the bowl games. For the title game I was asked to come on along with Ryan from Around the Oval. The video's up here. Don't anyone say that I don't respect the Ohio State Buckeyes! I gave them the big edge on defense and in coaching.

The third trivia question I got was amusing, as it's the game on which this very site's name is based. Anyway, onwards...(and I've gotta get those "Uhhh"s out of my radio voice!).

My answers to the questions from Around the Oval have been posted over there. Feel free to have a read and post there or here with your own take on the matter.

I'll post his answers to my questions as soon as I receive them.

Based on articles I've read and conversations I've had with friends over the past month, it's fairly evident that the rest of the nation is sick of hearing about "SEC Speed." Well, so am I

The whole concept ignores SEC Power.

No question speed is crucial and can separate the elite from the chaff. But what use is speed if a team's busy getting overpowered? In Tommy Moffitt, LSU has one of the best strength & conditioning coaches in the country. Again I emphasize the first part of that title: STRENGTH. He's won multiple college and high school coach of the year awards for that position, and deservedly so.

I'm not sure where the database of this is kept at the moment, but it's been mentioned in Tigervision broadcasts that LSU boasts a number of players who can bench press 500 lbs or more (searching this blog for my own comments on the matter, I see that it was 9 players as of the Tulane game in 2006).

Pretty much every article written about the SEC Speed stereotype, though it attempts to point out that it's nearly neutral between Ohio State and LSU, simply fails to address the issue that it's almost insulting for the SEC to get talked about as if it's mere speed that sets the conference apart. And perhaps there's nothing that really does set the conference apart, but for all the discussion about how fast the SEC is, lost in it all is the simple fact that if it came down to a knock-down, drag-out trench-war battle between LSU and any other team in the country - Ohio State included - we wouldn't come across too shabby ourselves. I'm not saying other conferences aren't powerful, but one gets the distinct feeling from listening to all this discussion that not a single person expects LSU to win if the speed issue were neutralized. Everyone goes out of his way to concede that Ohio State is plenty fast themselves, and everyone seems to be picking LSU anyway (be it for the alleged talent discrepancy or home field advantage), but in doing so NO ONE is taking any care to say "Hey, if LSU got punched in the mouth by Ohio State, could it get up and simply overpower its opponent? Could it win the game simply because it can win the battle in the trenches?"

That aspect has been completely swept under the rug, as far as I can tell, and I'm guessing if we DO win the title on Monday night, the following morning's headlines will be talking about the massive void in discussing the sheer strength of the LSU Tigers (and yes, I've seen Vern Gholston's biceps...again, this isn't a relative discussion). It isn't all about speed in the SEC - just ask Glenn Dorsey and Jacob Hester, who don't earn their living OUT-running you, just OVER-running you. Hopefully the nation can get that through its collective head sooner or later. Hopefully they'll learn it Monday night.

Images courtesy LSUsports.net (Moffitt), The Advocate (Hester).

Many apologies for camping out under a bus these past few weeks. I just launched a hedge fund into a market that saw the worst opening for the Dow since 1904, so I've been a bit distracted by real world responsibilities. I'll have more Q&A with Around the Oval shortly, as he should be posting my answers to his questions pretty soon.

Anyway, Happy New Year and Geaux Tigers!