Assuming Tenn doesnt lose before they play us, which is highly likely And Ark. doesnt lose or only loses to Tenn, also highly likely Would this be the first time a school has played 4 road games agaist a top 10 ranked opponent??
I see no way that Arkansas gets into the top ten at this point. They are 23 in the coaches poll. Their next 3 games are against SE Missouri, Ole Miss, and LA-Monroe. They won't gain any points winning those games. Then in November they get South Carolina, Tennessee, MSU, and LSU. That is only 1 ranked team until they face us. I could be wrong, but I don't see them moving up 13 spots with that schedule. It sucks to have a low preseason ranking...
But if they beat Tennessee and win out, then they will be a top 10 team by the time we play them. And they WILL beat Tennessee. So, yes that would make 4 top 10 teams on the road, which has definitely got to be a first for any team ever.
I take back what I said, because I started looking at the computer polls... Arkansas Anderson & Hester (http://www.andersonsports.com/football/ACF_frnk.html) - #7 Richard Billingsley (http://www.cfrc.com/Ratings_2006/WK_7.htm) - #20 Colley Matrix (http://www.colleyrankings.com/currank.html) - #12 Kenneth Massey (http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cf) - #5 Jeff Sagarin (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt06.htm) - #5 Peter Wolfe - ratings not posted until Oct. 15 LSU Anderson & Hester - #24 Richard Billingsley - #24 Colley Matrix - #30 Kenneth Massey - #23 Jeff Sagarin - #23 (ELO_CHESS is what the BCS uses) Peter Wolfe - ratings not posted until Oct. 15 OUCH..... :bncry::bncry: Average: Arkansas: 9.8 LSU: 24.8 We won't get any kind of quality win for another 3 weeks, and that's if we beat Tennessee. Using Sagarin's rankings, assuming we beat Kentucky this week, they will be the best team we have beaten at a whopping #55, followed by Arizona #56, ULL #100, MSU #110, and Tulane #116. Even Fresno State is #106.
Who cares how many top 10 teams we play? If we can't beat them, what's the difference? So far, we look silly and foolish to gripe and complain about the lack of respect LSU gets, and after a loss like this weekend, we don't deserve any more than what we had before. Look, I love the Tigers, but Miles has to get some kind of fire under his butt to motivate this team. When your team fumbles on the one foot line and all you do is nod your head like, "It's ok..." and that's it, something is horrifically wrong... it's nice to make mistakes against pee-ons and still blow them out, but those same mistakes fair differently against good teams. They don't seem to be learning from them or something. Obviously, I still have a bitter taste in my mouth. We lost to Auburn... we lost to Florida... and I hope we win out, but it's not looking too good.
It has something to do with the garbage LSU played in the OOC Schedule. The players have played differently against the talented teams and the coaches coach different against the bad teams. Play balls to the walls against everyone and you never know what will happen. If there is one thing I hate its the freaking soft defense LSU played against Florida. Here's a thought...blitz like you did in the games against ULL, Tulane, Arizona and State and take your chances. If they burn you, then you play a little softer. Until they prove they can beat you, please play to your strength. Your strength is not a freaking zone oriented defense. It is stupid for this team to play 5 yards off the line against a team that is 4 and 5 wide. They will beat you underneath all day. They did just that. Blitz and if they beat you long once then maybe change. Chris Leak never hit the ground. It doesnt matter how many of these good teams you play, if you don't win them, they are just pretty loses. But, they are loses none the less.
Or if you get burned, you at least have a good reason and eventually after Leak hitting the ground a few times, he's getting scared and making mistakes. Did you see him fall down and slide so wimpish when he was going to get hit? He's Leak the weak, but we didn't take advantage of it. We didn't get in his face enough. This is where Miles loses me. You play great offense and hard hitting defense against the Tulanes and MSUs, but against Florida, you allow 5-10 yard separation between WRs? Why? I know he's not the defensive coordinator, but you know he's a big part of that defensive gameplan... And whoever the special teams coach is should be hanged... have we ever had such a terrible ST day like that within the last 10 years?
