Fellow Tiger Fans, **All this presupposes an Ohio State loss. As big of a fan as I may be, even I can admit that a one-loss Ohio State team with a final three victories over top 15 teams Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan deserves to be ranked over LSU in the final BCS rankings.** We've already discussed (nearly to the point of exhaustion) overall BCS rankings; what we've not yet discussed in detail is the importance of impacting the one thing we, as fans, CAN impact: the hearts and minds of poll voters. I'll admit up front that this is not as "complete" a post as it can be, since I offer no way to research and/or contact various SIDs (the guys who REALLY vote in the ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches Poll) or AP voters. Nonetheless, what follows is my reasoning as to why we should, as some of the most loyal fans in all of college football, do our part as "part of the team" to at least try to sway public opinion as to why we should slide past USC in the two opinion polls. It all starts with the sort of info we're already discussing among ourselves. To wit: As "scientific" as these computers supposedly are, a factoid like the one listed above may, if emailed a few hundred times a week to those in a position to sway voter's opinion, prove useful. Who, you might ask? Why not start with Chris Fowler. For obvious reasons, Chris is highly visible to anyone even remotely interested in college football. He is also an AP voter, a fact he mentions quite often while on the air. Now, he's been very, very lukewarm towards us for most of the season, kind of firmly in the Lee Corso "they got lucky to beat Georgia" camp and all. If a Chris Fowler starts to parrot facts like the one above, it may--may--be a small step along a path to having us squeeze past USC in at least one, if not both, opinion polls. As of this week, we are less than 100 votes behind USC in both polls. If we win and win convincingly against our remaining opponents, I think that , human nature being what it is, we have a legitimate (though not certain) chance to pass them. What's more impressive? LSU beats Alabama by 17 in Tuscaloosa (when the mighty Oklahoma could only do so by 7) the same weekend USC beats Arizona by, say, 7? All I'm saying is, if the guys on the field take care of business and win and win comfortably the rest of the way, we have a strong case to make to both Coaches poll and AP poll voters as to why we should slide into the number 2 spot. As long as we continue to win, mention facts like this one each time you call into a sports show, send an email to a person in the media, etc. Facts are a stubborn thing, so don't be reluctant to pound on people in order to get the truth out. You never know if the email you send is the one that switches a vote from some other school to LSU... GEAUX TIGERS! SUGAR IS SWEET!
