The Tigers are a 9-3 football team.Welcome to the now. Evo Devo.That ad campaign was just as ridiculous as the high expectations people levied upon the LSU football team this season.Not every season should be national championship or bust.There has never been a back-to-back BCS national champion, and there may never be one with all the parity in the game today.It’s just not a realistic or likely expectation for any team to win it all every year – unless it’s on an Xbox and the coach only recruits four- and five-star athletes.But I, like many others, drank the Kool-aid and blindly, and often times loudly, named the Tigers a national title contender.The Tigers weren’t contenders this year, and it became painfully obvious fairly early in the season.After only putting up 41 points on North Texas, needing a fourth quarter comeback to beat Auburn and allowing Mississippi State to score 24 points with a quarterback who was making his first college start, all objective observers should have been able to diagnose LSU as more of a pretender than a contender.But that’s OK.A year after the 2003 national championship, LSU finished with three losses, and the world didn’t end.The Tigers just reloaded and went to the Southeastern Conference championship game the next season.If LSU finishes the last three games of its regular season with wins, this season can be salvaged in many people’s minds, and the Tigers can earn a berth to a somewhat respectable New Year’s Day bowl.A win Saturday against Troy should be fairly easy.The Trojans haven’t beaten anyone important, and in their only games against BCS teams, they have been outscored, 83-34.And they can even be the victim of a true freshman quarterback’s coming-out party for the second time this season.Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor threw four touchdown passes against Troy in his first career start.LSU coach Les Miles has already said true freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson will play more, so anything is possible.  The two remaining SEC games could prove more difficult for the Tigers.LSU and Ole Miss are both 3-3 in the SEC, and anything can happen in a rivalry game.The Rebels have looked good under new coach Houston Nutt and have an upset win against Florida in The Swamp on their resume.Arkansas is the worst team in the SEC with only two wins, but that aforementioned rivalry rule is still in play for this one.The Razorbacks won’t be going bowling but would love to make something out of their season by beating LSU for the second consecutive season.If LSU prevails in the three contests, which is likely, I could see the Tigers playing in the Cotton Bowl against the best team in the Big 12 not in a BCS bowl — Texas Tech, Texas or Oklahoma. LSU senior associated athletic director Verge Ausberry told The Daily Reveille on Wednesday that LSU fits “really well” in the Cotton Bowl.Any of those matchups would be potentially ugly for LSU.Both teams, and nearly all of the Big 12, play a style of football that is largely dependent on the success of quarterback play. And everyone has seen LSU’s defense against accomplished quarterbacks.Even with a bowl loss, LSU would still have a season many college programs would kill for. And with the youth at a lot of key positions, LSU will be poised for a significant run in the near future.So all you Negative Nancies out there should keep your head up. The sunrise is just over that hill.
 
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]