#1 LSU +4.5 at #2 Bama (ov/un 43.5) Sat 8 ET, CBS

[GrizzlyBuck]

it wouldn't surprise me if that happened.

Your defense will be tough to beat, but with your two QB's being mistake prone, they could help someone out with a couple of ill-timed turnovers. The Piggy's could have just enough offense to force those mistakes.

 

[BB73]

It was a couple of great defenses, but it wasn't a highly entertaining game for me. I thought that Les Miles did outcoach Saban, who tried at least 1 too many FGs when he should have pinned LSU deep, and he did make a bad mistake with Maze trying to field that punt late in the game that flipped the field.

But the biggest play in the game was the co-possession/ripped-away-INT near the goal line, which would have almost certainly ended up in a Bama TD if they had called it co-possession. That call looked like it could have gone either way to me.

I'm hearing very little of talking heads saying "a team needs to win its division (or its conference) in order to deserve a spot in the BCS Title game". I heard that a lot a couple of years ago when Oklahoma-Texas-TTech were all very high in the BCS standings late in the year.

I think a rematch would be a bad thing - I didn't want it in 2006, and I don't want one now. But Oklahoma State or Stanford better win out, because I don't see Oklahoma or Oregon jumping a 1-loss Bama (Oklahoma's loss is to an unranked team, and Oregon would be its own rematch). And I don't want to see Boise State get to the title game, either.

Damn - how does LSU manage to be really good every time the Title Game rotation heads into their state?

 

[Nutriaitch]

But the biggest play in the game was the co-possession/ripped-away-INT near the goal line, which would have almost certainly ended up in a Bama TD if they had called it co-possession. That call looked like it could have gone either way to me.

it was close, and probably could have gone either way.

but here is how I convinced myself it was a pick.
it really wasn't simultaneous possession until the TE bobbled it on the way down.
he HAD the ball, not Reid, but lost it on way down.
Reid never had the ball until the TE lost it.
if after losing it the ball fell to the turf instead of Reid's chest, it would have been ruled incomplete.
instead, it fell to Reid's chest which equals an int.

a fortunate play that went in our favor.

 

[Muck]

Damn - how does LSU manage to be really good every time the Title Game rotation heads into their state?

 

[MaxBuck]

LSU beat Bama on Bama's home field. Ergo I see no reason for Bama to get a second shot in the NCG. I'd rather see LSU play Boise than have that happen.

But I think Stanford will likely finish unbeaten and put those arguments to bed. And then get absolutely killed by the Bayou Tigers.

 

[matcar]

it was close, and probably could have gone either way.

but here is how I convinced myself it was a pick.
it really wasn't simultaneous possession until the TE bobbled it on the way down.
he HAD the ball, not Reid, but lost it on way down.
Reid never had the ball until the TE lost it.
if after losing it the ball fell to the turf instead of Reid's chest, it would have been ruled incomplete.
instead, it fell to Reid's chest which equals an int.

a fortunate play that went in our favor.

It wasn't just fortunate, it was a damn good play by Reid too.

 

[Buckeye513]

It was a heroic effort in the face of adversity by Mr. Reid and there's no doubt in my mind that it was the right call.

 

[BB73]

If Arkansas beats LSU on the day after Thanksgiving, and the 3 teams all end their regular season 11-1, the SEC 3-team tiebreaker is interesting. If they all only have a loss to each other, it falls to #8.

8. The tied team with the highest ranking in the Bowl Championship Series Standings following the last weekend of regular-season games shall be the divisional representative in the SEC Championship Game, unless the second of the tied teams is ranked within five-or-fewer places of the highest ranked tied team. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the SEC Championship Game.

In other words, they go to the BCS standings, but they don't just take the highest-ranked BCS team. If the top 2 of the 3 teams in the BCS standings are within 5 spots of each other, which they certainly would be, then the head-to-head between those two teams decides it.

So if Bama is above LSU in the BCS standings, LSU would get the SEC Championship game bid, even if Alabama was #1 in the BCS, as long as LSU was in the top 6 and ahead of Arkansas. But if Arkansas jumps LSU in the BCS standings by winning in Red Stick, Alabama would win the SEC tiebreaker by the head-to-head with Arkansas. Arkansas could only win the tiebreaker if both LSU and Arkansas finish ahead of Bama in the BCS standings, which I don't think can happen in Bama wins out.

So the rematch might actually be more likely to happen if LSU loses to Arkansas. Because either way, both Oklahoma State and Stanford have to lose to allow for the possibility of the rematch.

 

[Bucknut24]