LSU’s road to the Southeastern Conference Western Division title may have taken a few detours, but, much like last season, the Tigers found the onramp following the win over Ole Miss.
The sighting of the Reginalds of Tigerland’s official mascot “I’m Not a Girl…Not Yet a Woman” Britney Spears revved up the Tigers’ engines to inch past the Rebels.
Nick Saban and company now will fight for the joyous opportunity to stand next to CBS’ Jill Arrington. But not this week as she won’t grace us with her presence.
Instead, everyone suffering from a wild turkey hangover gets to hear the words of wisdom from the Heisman Trophy winne turned NFL bust turned all of a sudden sideline expert Andre Ware.
Arkansas and LSU also will fight for and against receiving “The Boot” Friday afternoon.
One will take home a golden trophy that currently resides in the window of the second floor of the LSU Athletic Administration Building and the hand of this blonde damsel (Alright, enough about Jill).
The other could be booted to the lowly depths of Shreveport and the “Weed whacker” Independence Bowl.
But, more importantly, the winner advances to face Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC Championship and a trip to the Sugar Bowl.
Many media gurus expected LSU to be in this position ever since spring football. The difference for this year’s squad, relative to last year’s, is the Tigers limped through the season while continuosly winning games.
Many of the wins were absolutely ugly.
LSU’s season resembled that of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens — win with a hard-nosed defense and hope the offense doesn’t make mistakes.
The victories over the likes of Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss resembled anything but a top 10 team in the nation.
They were all wins though, no matter how you look at them.
Considering the injuries to Matt Mauck, LaBrandon Toefield and now Devery Henderson, the Tigers are lucky even to be close to return to the Southeastern Conference Championship. And the disappearing act of on-again off-again Damien James had to have played with the players’ craniums.
In the three losses, LSU’s giveaway/takeaway ratio is -6. Not exactly a bright shiny number, and yet the Tigers are in the driver’s seat.
A repeat trip to Atlanta remains up in the air for the taking.
If the Tigers advance, the trip itself probably would be more improbable than last year. A loss to Arkansas would cause the “only ifs” to reign over campus until next August.