Assuming Arkansas is able to beat State and we're able to beat Ole Miss. The way I see it is we'll finish anywhere from 3 to 6 in the human polls going into bowl season. Will that be enough to get us an at large bid? It should defininitely mean we do no worse than the Capital One right? How would the computers see us? They are dragging us down. We are at #9. Arkansas would lose: up one spot USC or Notre Dame would lose: up one spot Rutgers or WV would lose: up one spot That would put us at #6 unless some teams jumped us, but if they jump us it would have to be this weekend, because you're not going to jump a team that just beat Arkansas. The best we could finish is 3rd behind Michigan and Ohio State. All of the other teams ahead of us could lose.
Let's look at what is most probable. Arkansas beats Mississippi State, Auburn beats Alabama and LSU beats Ole Miss. If LSU beats Arkansas next week it will end the regular season with a 10-2 record which will put them solidly in the top 10 of the BCS poll and LSU would have a strong possibility of getting an at-large BCS bid. If this happens I would say LSU would have a good shot at the Orange Bowl. Should LSU lose to Arkansas it will not get a BCS bid. In that case the Capital One, Cotton, Outback and the Chick-fil-A Bowls would all be good fits for the Tigers.
10 teams will make the BCS Bowls this year. If we finish higher than the loser of the SEC CG I think we do end up in a BCS Bowl, especially if UF wins the SEC and we beat the Hawgs next week after defeating OM tonight. We'll be firmly entrenched in the top 10 and have the same media attention that AU had last year at the end of the season, before losing their bowl game.
This raises the question will the SEC be represented by one team or two teams in the BCS. But explain your position. Why is Florida that important to LSU getting into the BCS?
If Fla is n the MNC game, that leaves 4 BCS games available to slide into, if the SEC champ isn't in the MNC game, that will leave only 3 games
I don't have in depth understanding of the bowl selection process; however, I would think a 10-2 LSU team should get into a BCS bowl. The reason I believe this, no regard for what computers might dictate (Which would obviously have a lot of bearing) is that the media has repeatedly said how LSU is better than our record indicates. We can match up with anyone and our fans........ they love 'em and know we travel well. This is just a gut feeling and may be the most stupid post I've ever made because I'm not basing it on SOS, other teams win/loss, just what us and everyone else knows. It is an "At large" bid. Anyone else concur? Or am I completely out of bounds?
Here's the ideal situation... NCG - Florida vs. Ohio St/Michigan Winner Rose - Ohio St./Michigan Loser (At-large Big10 replacement) vs. USC (Pac-10) Orange - Georgia Tech (ACC) vs. West Virginia (Big East) Fiesta - Texas (Big 12) vs. Boise St. (at-large, who will finally be killed by a real bcs team) Sugar - LSU (at-large) vs. Notre Dame (at-large) Now, for this to happen, we need several things to happen. First of all, take care of business and beat ole miss and arkansas. Next, Notre Dame needs to beat USC. IF USC wins out, they will likely be in the NCG, pushing Florida down to the Sugar and LSU out. Staying on the topic of the Trojans, they need to lose to Notre Dame while still winning the Pac-10. If they lose the Pac-10, they will likely still get the at-large over LSU (unless they lose to both Notre Dame AND Cal, then who knows?) What is a garuantee? That LSU will, if they win out, be in a New Year's Day bowl, which in the SEC usually means you had a successful season.
Okay. I agree that if Florida is in the MNC game LSU's chances of getting a BCS bid increase significantly. But even if Florida does not make the MNC, a 10-2 record will put the Tigers within striking range of a BCS bowl.