BATON ROUGE -- Before the largest paid attendance in Alex Box Stadium history, No. 22 LSU beat Mississippi State, 9-6, Sunday and swept the weekend series in the final regular season contest at the historic ballpark.

After the victory, over 100 former LSU players spanning seven decades of baseball in Alex Box Stadium joined current players, coaches, fans and LSU Athletics Director and legendary Tiger baseball coach Skip Bertman to commemorate 70 years in “The Box."

The Tigers (35-16-1, 15-11-1 SEC), winners of 12 consecutive games, swept their third straight SEC series for the first time since the 1991 national championship season. Mississippi State dropped to 20-32 and 7-20 in the SEC.

LSU is in first place in the SEC Western Division, 1.5 games ahead of Alabama and Ole Miss. The Tigers’ 12-game win streak is the longest by an LSU squad since the 2000 club won 13 in a row at the end of its national championship season.

Fans couldn’t take their seats with them Sunday after the last regular season game at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium, but they could take their memories and, if they wanted, a souvenir T-shirt or program.

Like nearly everyone else at the ballpark, Bobby Box left with more than a few of each those things.

Box, 55, a Baton Rouge resident who is the nephew of the stadium’s namesake, recounted growing up a few blocks from the stadium named years before in honor of an uncle he never met.

As a youth, he would ride his bike over to the stadium with his friends and shag foul balls for the baseball team, Box said Sunday during the regular season finale against Mississippi State. In return for foul balls, he said, the players gave the children their cracked wooden bats, which Box and his friends taped up and used in their own games.

Box knew all about his family’s legacy attached to the stadium — his father, Neal, had told him at an early age about Alex Box, an LSU baseball and football player and U.S. Army first lieutenant killed in North Africa during World War II.

But for Bobby Box — and about 6,555 other fans who crowded into the stadium for one more game — the memories weren’t about the name that adorned the stadium, the seats or the field.

It was always about the game.

With a No. 22 ranking, a lead in the SEC Western Division and 12 consecutive wins, some say LSU has put itself in a prime position to host an NCAA regional at Alex Box Stadium one last time.

Can you say Omaha?

But regional sites won’t be announced until the final day of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on May 25, so many fans left the ballpark Sunday afternoon wondering if that was the last game they would see within the stadium’s walls.

That’s the reason why there was no question LSU had to have a ceremony after the game commemorating the park’s history, said Bertman, the outgoing LSU athletic director and architect of the national championship winning program.

Bertman, who said he “fulfilled a lot of dreams" at the old stadium, acknowledged it will be difficult to leave behind the stadium but added that players and fans will make new memories at the new ballpark.

“It would be just another ball yard except for these fans," Bertman said after the post-game ceremony. “The fans made The Box, and they’ll make the new stadium."

The new $31 million Alex Box Stadium is being built at Nicholson Drive and Gourrier Lane, about 1,000 feet south of the present Alex Box Stadium. It will seat more than 8,700 fans — about 1,000 more than the present stadium — and is scheduled to open at the beginning of the 2009 season.

For some fans, however, leaving behind the old stadium on Sunday was still difficult.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

I’ll miss Alex Box, but have to say that I’m very exited about the New Alex Box that’s being built! For more info, check out New Alex Box or LSU Sports.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President George W. Bush welcomed the national champion LSU football team to the White House Monday afternoon in what was an all-day event for the Tigers.

The trip marked the second time in five years that the Tigers have made the distinguished visit to the nation’s capital as they took their first trip after winning the 2003 BCS title.

The Tigers arrived at the White House at 12:45 p.m. and were given a tour of the building.

The highlight of Monday’s festivities was a photo opportunity on the South Lawn of the White House. With the LSU football team standing behind him, President Bush spoke for approximately 10 minutes as he congratulated the Tigers on their 2007 campaign.

Head coach Les Miles presented President Bush with a No. 7 jersey, in reference to the 2007 season, and senior captain Jacob Hester gave the 43rd president of the United States a bronze football.

After the recognition on the South Lawn, the 180-member LSU travel party took a tour of the National Mall area which including visits to the Lincoln Memorial, Reflection Pool, the Washington Monument, the National World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On Tuesday, a group of Tigers will visit the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Additionally, the national champs will tour the Pentagon, meet with the Louisiana Delegation at the United State Capitol and then witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at the Arlington National Cemetery before returning to Baton Rouge.

Transcript from WhiteHouse.gov:

THE PRESIDENT: Good to see you all. Welcome. Go Tigers! Sit down. Please sit down. Thanks for coming.

So I met some of these men in 2004 -- they feel pretty comfortable they were going to be back here. Some of them weren't so sure I was going to be back here. It's good to welcome you back. Proud you're here. Nothing like being called, "National Champs." LSU has the honor of being the first school to win two BCS titles. This year there is no split.

I appreciate Les Miles, and Kathy -- thanks for coming. Proud to have met you, Coach. It was a great honor for me to have called you after you won that day. And I know you told the team that at least one guy called to congratulate you. I welcome the LSU administrators, personnel, coaches, trainers, locker room folks, and most of all, the players.

I want to welcome members of Congress -- Jim McCrery. Jim, good to see you, sir. And, Scott and Clark, good to see you boys. Rodney Alexander -- Congressman, good to see you. Charles Boustany -- I'm glad to see you, Charles. Thanks for coming. I appreciate you taking time to be here. Out of the state government is State Treasurer John Kennedy. John, thank you for coming. Appreciate you coming up for that. Glad you brought Preston.

Is Breaux here? No, he -- he's working. Which is a major upset -- no.

Winning requires very strong leadership -- that's what it takes. After eight years of welcoming national champs there's always one common denominator, and that is it requires a strong leader to motivate people toward a common goal. And that's exactly what you have in Coach Les Miles. Coach Miles's three years has helped the team compile a 34-and-6 record. And this is a guy who's not afraid to take risks. He tried two fake field goals, fake punt, went for 4th down -- went for 1st down on 4th down -- 15 times. Made it nearly every time. Of course, he had the players who helped him take that risk.

He also had to deal with some delicate situations away from the field, like inaccurate press stories. Coach, let me just say, I know the feeling.

This is Coach Miles's first time celebrating here at the White House, and a lot of folks are going to remember it because it's the first time he's been seen in public without a hat on.

LSU fans had an amazing season. They -- first of all, in the season, the number one ranking changed hands six times. Of course, LSU was number one on the day it counted; that's why they're here. You had to overcome adversity to get here. You played as a team, and you won some dramatic football games. And when you lost, it was pretty dramatic, too. You beat Florida in a comeback with the largest crowd ever to watch a game at Tiger Stadium. Two weeks later, you rallied to beat Auburn on a touchdown scored with one second left on the clock.

After you lost to Arkansas, a lot of folks counted you out. But you held a team meeting and decided you had something to play for. In other words, you didn't let adversity affect you. You said, we're going to do something about it. And then you beat Tennessee to win the SEC Championship, and you went from number seven to number two -- and you went straight to the national title game, which didn't start off so good. And yet you had 31 unanswered points, like a true champion team, to win 38 to 24. And you're here at the White House, representing LSU University as the National Champs. And we congratulate you.

Being raised in Texas and growing up in Texas, I've got a lot of friends in Louisiana. And you inspired people across the state. I thought Matt -- quarterback Matt Flynn put it best. He said, "You can't dream it any better than that." And that's what a lot of people were saying around your state.

You earned your place in the record books. You scored the most points in school history. And the seniors will go down as LSU's winningest class. No other senior class has had a better record.

I welcome defensive tackle, Glenn Dorsey. And so did the team when he turned down -- when he decided not to turn pro last year. A lot of fans said, "Thank you, Glenn." A lot of opponents said, "No, thank you, Glenn." After all, he was the defensive player of the year for SEC, Outland Trophy winner, Lombardi Trophy, and Nagurski Award. He'll have his time in the NFL, and a lot of teams are sure anxious to have him play for them. Congratulations, and welcome. Glad you're here.

This is a team of great athletes. Two players were drafted by Major League Baseball. One of the stars, Trindon Holliday, holds the school record in the 100 meters. One of your linemen, Herman Johnson -- he holds a different kind of record. He was the largest baby ever born in the state of Louisiana, at 15 pounds, 14 ounces. That's why he's known as "The House," which puts him in good stead with his fellow teammates known as, "Putt," or "Surfer Boy," "L-Crazy," and "Cheese." Whatever nickname you prefer to be called, all of us here are calling you "Champs." And you deserve it. I want to thank you for being champions on the field.

I appreciate you understanding that once you're a champ on the field, means you have a responsibility to be a champ off the field, as well. And there's no better inspiration than Les Miles and his wife, Kathy. They host events that raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. They're active in cancer fundraising and the Special Olympics, the Baton Rouge Children's Advocacy Center. I told the coach that I was going to mention this, and that is, I'm aware, as the Commander-in-Chief of the finest military ever assembled on the face of the Earth, that he went to boost our troops in Iraq and Kuwait as part of a USO tour. I want to thank you, Coach, for doing your job.

I appreciate the example that Glenn Dorsey has set on the field and off the field to -- he works to educate children about the dangers of drugs, and encourages them to work hard. His advice is: "Dream big and make things happen." There's nothing better than a champ to help somebody dream big and to encourage them to make something happen.

And so when you leave here, I hope you leave here knowing that you've got a special responsibility, not only to represent your school on the football field, but to help make America a better place, just like Ciron Black did, when he heard the story of an 8-year-old LSU fan who was suffering from leukemia. And he took time to send an encouraging message, then he wrote the boy's name, Mikey, on his wristband during the national championship game. Sometimes people say, I can't help because I can't solve all the problems. But in this case, he showed that you can help one person. And in helping one person, he helped the nation as a whole. And I want to thank you, Ciron, for your leadership.

There's a lot of great stories about the character of the people behind me, but it's getting chilly, and I'm looking forward to getting my LSU jersey. And so I want to welcome you all to the White House, to the South Lawn of the White House. I'm so honored and proud to welcome the LSU Tigers here as the National Champs. God bless you. God bless LSU, and God bless America.

Check out the article at LSU Sports.

Sweet! Congrats to the Tigers for a well-earned trip to the White House! Geaux!!!

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It sounds crazy, and it probably is: Skydive from 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) and land safely—without a parachute—wearing a getup that resembles a flying squirrel costume.

"It's pretty much considered impossible," said Maria von Egidy, a designer with Jii-Wings in Cape Town, South Africa.

Von Egidy isn't interested in trying the stunt herself. But she aims to design the first wingsuit that will help pull it off.

Wingsuits are jumpsuits with fabric panels between the arms and legs that enable skydivers to zoom around in freefall.

By angling the self-inflating, rigid "wings," pilots can turn, dive, or rocket forward.

What wearers can't do—at least not yet—is land safely without the aid of a parachute.

"In terms of downward speed, we're actually within the margin of safety there for landing," von Egidy said. "But of course the forward speeds are tremendous."

And therein lies the catch.

Terminal Velocity

If pushed from a high-flying plane, a naked human would fall to Earth at a terminal velocity—or maximum speed—of about 120 miles (190 kilometers) an hour.

A wingsuit doubles a person's surface area, slowing the descent rate to about 30 miles (50 kilometers) an hour, about the same as with a small parachute, von Egidy said.

The main problem with making a safe landing is that wingsuit pilots descend not only downward but also forward, propelled by the gliding action of their wings.

Forward speeds can top 75 to 90 miles (120 to 150 kilometers) an hour.

For now wingsuit pilots deploy a parachute at the end of their jumps to slow their descent for touchdown.

But a few pilots and designers have been exploring ways to set down on solid ground without the aid of a chute.

Some, like BASE (building, antennae, spans, and Earth) jumper Jeb Corliss of Malibu, California, are reportedly experimenting with landing gear or special surfaces.

Von Egidy has a different idea.

"We're trying to flare the suit without using landing gear [but] with aerodynamics," she said. "It's really a very simple solution in the end."

The designer won't discuss her plans in more detail, lest she divulge trade secrets. But she does say that the key to her concept is to create a forward brake at the right moment.

"Our design efforts are centered around solving that problem," she said.

Von Egidy's passion for the wingsuit might seem ironic, as she has never skydived at all, let alone jumped wearing one of her prototypes.

Instead she relies on a clutch of experienced skydivers around the world to test the suits and report on their performance.

"I don't have the luxury of actually experiencing it myself," von Egidy said. "So I have to rely on really good descriptions from [the testers]."

Danger Dives

Jean Potvin, a physics professor at St. Louis University in Missouri, analyzes parachute safety for the Parks College Parachute Research Group.

Potvin, a veteran skydiver who's logged more than 2,400 jumps, believes it's possible to land the right wingsuit without a parachute.

But, he says, the very high speeds involved and the potential for pilot error pose huge risks.

"It's something that's doable, but it's … fraught with danger," Potvin said.

Whether von Egidy's strategy will work remains to be seen. She says it will be another few months before a prototype can be safely tested in the air.

In the meantime, she and business partner Cate Turner will continue to subsidize their wingsuit work with income from their main business: Tailors of Tinseltown, which supplies costumes to South Africa's television and film industry.

As for her quest to design the first wingsuit to safely deliver a person to Earth, the South African says she harbors few doubts she will succeed.

"The preliminary ground tests are very positive," she said. "Everybody who knows what I'm doing believes in it. It's just a damn good idea that no one spotted."

Check out the article at National Geographic News.

Sounds like an awesome ride... I wanna try!!!

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Chalk up another honor for the LSU football team and its fiery, gambling coach Les Miles.

This time it’s the Louisiana Sports Writers Association doing the honors — choosing Miles and his national championship team for the organization’s 2007 Headliner of the Year Award.

When Baton Rouge native Ron Higgins, president of the Football Writers Association of America, presented Miles with the FWAA national championship trophy during a recent celebration at Tiger Stadium, Higgins said Miles proved a nice guy can win the national championship.

Miles, however, does not completely endorse the “nice guy” label.

“I prefer nice guy, but tough football coach,” Miles said. His players would agree.

“He’s really just as tough as coach Saban on the field,” said tailback Jacob Hester, referring to Alabama coach Nick Saban, whom Miles replaced in 2005 when Saban went to the Miami Dolphins. “He’ll get on you, especially the offensive linemen. But you can go up and talk to him more easily.”

Miles started the 2007 off-season by calling out Alabama with an expletive at the Bayou Bash signing day party. He later apologized for his language. By July, he was poking fun at the Pacific-10 conference. As the season finally started, he was just getting warmed up.

The Tigers, who entered the season No. 2 in the nation to Pac-10 power Southern California, started out on fire, rolling by Mississippi State 45-0, No. 9 Virginia Tech 48-7, Middle Tennessee 44-0 and No. 12 South Carolina 28-16. Miles beat South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier at his own game by calling a fake field goal with holder Matt Flynn tossing a no-look lateral over his shoulder to kicker Colt David, who sprinted in for the touchdown. Spurrier nodded accordingly as if to say, “You got me.”

After struggling briefly with Tulane before winning 34-9, the Tigers moved to No. 1 in the nation in the Associated Press poll during a regular season for the first time since 1959.

Then Miles stepped into a phone booth — or a cellular store these days — and came out as the “Ohio Gambler”. Five times, “Vegas” Les went for it on fourth down, including another fake field goal, and made it five times in a thrilling 28-24 win over No. 9 Florida.

“I didn’t just go out and risk everything,” Miles said. “They were all calculated calls. We had good plays in mind. We didn’t just go for it.”

The nation began to notice Miles, Hester, who converted three of those fourth downs, and the Tigers, who went to No. 1 across the board. A setback followed at Kentucky in a 43-37 triple overtime loss when a fourth-and-2 failed.

But good fortune smiled on Miles and the Tigers a week later against Auburn when Flynn found Demetrius Byrd for the winning touchdown on a 22-yard pass play that ended with one second on the clock in a 30-24 victory. The Legend of Les grew.

A week later, LSU defeated Alabama’s Saban at his own game. With the score tied 34-34 and less than two minutes to play, Chad Jones’ safety blitz forced a fumble by Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson that the Tigers recovered at the Alabama 3. Moments later, Hester scored from the 1 for a 41-34 victory and an 8-1 record.

However, the magical season appeared over for some with a 50-48, triple overtime loss at home to Arkansas in the regular season finale the day after Thansgiving.

But Miles and his team had saved their best act for last.

The morning of Saturday, Dec. 1, was a dark one in the LSU Nation. But little did everyone know that a “perfect storm” was brewing.

That day, many thought the Tigers had only a Southeastern Conference title to play for when they were facing Tennessee in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. And on ESPN Game Day program that morning, Kirk Herbstreit reported that Miles would become head coach at his alma mater, Michigan, on Monday.

LSU, however, had struck a deal with Miles the night before and he agreed to stay. An announcement was forthcoming before the game with Miles set to discuss it more after the game against the Vols. Because of Herbstreit’s incorrect report, Miles had a rare pre-game news conference. And the rest is history.

“There was misinformation on ESPN, and I think it was imperative that I straighten it out,” Miles began. “I got a championship game to play. And I’m excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play. And it’s really all I’d like to say. Please ask me after. I’m busy. Thank you very much.

“Have a great day.”

Miles and his team went on to defeat Tennessee, 21-14, for the SEC title.

With LSU on the airplane ride home, the “perfect storm” hit: Oklahoma defeated top-ranked Missouri and lowly Pittsburgh stunned No. 2 West Virginia.

A day later, LSU rose from No. 7 to No. 2 in the BCS rankings, setting the stage for the national championship game against Ohio State in the Superdome, just 87 miles from Tiger Stadium.

The denouement had a rocky start as LSU trailed the Buckeyes 10-0 in the first quarter, but that proved to be a microcosm of the LSU season. The Tigers trailed South Carolina and Tulane early on before winning. They also trailed Florida, Auburn and Alabama by 10 points in the third period before victory.

“I think this team is full of grown men,” Flynn said. “Full of guys who’ve been there. Guys that never say quit. We’d been down by 10 before. We knew we’d come back.”

He was right. The Tigers scored 31 straight points en route to a 38-24 triumph.

Miles ended that night like a college kid, though, on a Bourbon Street balcony lifting the national championship trophy to the masses.

“This is our trophy,” Miles said at the Tiger Stadium celebration. “This is the state of Louisiana’s championship.” And he didn’t want it to stop.

“That trophy should be carried around the state like the Stanley Cup,” he said.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

What an awesome season! The Championship Celebration was a lot of fun, despite the cold weather... it was definitely worth going to cheer on those guys one last time! Congratulations, Tigers!

Incidentally, more former LSU players will play in Super Bowl XLII than any other college! Now, that's saying something! With LSU's 5 players, that totals 20 former SEC players in this Sunday's match-up!

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NEW ORLEANS — A second-line saunter to a championship for LSU, just like the Tigers scripted it.

A déjà vu nightmare for Ohio State, just as the Buckeyes feared.

The LSU Tigers played 14 games this season and could never completely escape their mistake-marked habits.

Who cares? The Tigers’ flawed but fabulous image is reflected in the crystal ball of the BCS national championship trophy, their second in five years.

As at no time before in LSU’s football history, the Tigers are the nation’s preeminent program. From hurricane-battered Boothville to Bastrop, LSU fans can thump their chests and say, truly, no one does it better than their beloved Tigers.

Generations will be born into this state and ask of us one day, “Tell me, grandpa. Tell me when the Tigers were the best there was.”

This is that time.

Ohio State, more than anyone, has to live with what is for the Buckeyes an ugly truth. A year after being destroyed by Florida in the inaugural BCS title game 41-14, the Buckeyes came here riding a year-long crusade of redemption. They didn’t find it. The 38-24 beating inflicted by LSU wasn’t quite as lopsided as what Florida wrought, but it brought no joy or relief to the scarlet and gray.

The SEC rules. The Big Ten got schooled. Again.

Of course, this being LSU, the Tigers had to make a couple of blunders just to get the blood flowing. After Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells bolted for a BCS championship game-record 65-yard touchdown run just 1:26 into the game, LSU’s first possession ended with Matt Flynn falling on a shotgun snap at the Tigers’ 6 after center Brett Helms sent the ball flying when Flynn came up to change the play. Freshman punt returner Chad Jones fumbled away a punt return that teammate Harry Coleman scooped into his chest at the LSU 16. Timeouts were burned needlessly as the Tigers couldn’t get plays off in time.

And LSU fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter, giving Ohio State a huge injection of confidence to start the game.

All part of the uncanny Les Miles plan, folks. All part of the plan.

Slowly, inexorably, momentum made a seismic shift to the LSU side of the Superdome. Having defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois back after a season-long suspension was a huge plus for LSU in its SEC Championship Game victory over Tennessee. Jean-Francois played an even bigger role in this game, helping the Tigers impose their will on the Buckeyes and turn the game in the second quarter.

With the score tied 10-10, defensive MVP Jean-Francois planted offensive guard Ben Person in the turf and reached out to block Ryan Pretorious’ 38-yard field-goal attempt with his meaty right hand. LSU recovered at its 34 and marched relentlessly for a touchdown, offensive MVP Matt Flynn finishing it with one of his best passes of the year, a perfect 10-yard lob to Brandon LaFell in the back of the end zone.

Ohio State was playing catch-up the rest of the night. Maybe it was that fabled SEC speed, but the Buckeyes couldn’t ever get the Tigers back in their grasp.

Don’t be too hard on Ohio State though.

As the song asks, “Hold That Tiger?”

Right now, no one can.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

What a dominating performance! I'm so proud of these guys! Enjoy it while you can, Tiger fans... we have 25 seniors on the way out and everyone will be gunning for us next year. Bring 'em on!

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When historians look back on the crazy, unpredictable college football season of 2007, they might conclude it featured the most memorable season in LSU history.

The Tigers blew out opponents early, reached No. 1 in the polls after five games, played five down-to-the-wire Southeastern Conference games, lost only in triple overtime — twice — and stayed on the national map throughout the calendar year.

There’s one more game — No. 2 LSU (11-2) plays No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) for the BCS national championship on Monday — but even an unfinished season has experts and old-timers struggling to find a more compelling season involving the Tigers.

“It’s been an amazing year,” said LSU senior associate athletic director Herb Vincent, a former sports information director at the university.

Playing its first Thursday night ESPN game, LSU was the network’s season opener after its “25-hour countdown to kickoff” leading into the Tigers’ 45-0 victory Aug. 30 at Mississippi State. LSU’s next game, a 48-7 thrashing of Virginia Tech on ESPN, put a convincing stamp of legitimacy on its preseason No. 2 ranking and its national championship hopes.

Seven appearances on CBS, an LSU record that matched an SEC record, gave the Tigers even more exposure.

“I think this year there has been more visibility for Louisiana State University than at any other time in its history,” LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman said.

Bertman coached LSU baseball teams to five national titles. He said there’s nothing to compare to a season like the one enjoyed by the 2007 LSU football program.

“You can win some baseball titles and get some national press or go to the Final Four and get some national press, but this football team has been on CBS seven times, and CBS has much higher ratings than ESPN,” Bertman said.

“These games were amazing, going into overtime or going down to the last play. Nobody’s seen anything like this.”

Statistics provided by CBS Sports show 64 percent of U.S. households have wired cable television, and another 22 percent have an alternate delivery system — primarily satellite.

Fourteen percent have neither, receiving most of their television over the air.

As an over-the-air network, CBS put LSU football into a lot of living rooms where people don’t have access to ESPN or pay-per-view options.

“I’d say millions of people saw LSU that didn’t see LSU before,” Bertman said, “or at least got to know LSU better because of the constant visibility on television.”

That is one of the attractions of the CBS television contract with the SEC, Commissioner Mike Slive said.

“Anyone with rabbit ears can get the SEC on CBS,” Slive said.

The SEC had three teams in the national championship conversation — Florida and LSU early, Georgia late. LSU was the only one from start to finish.

With that setup, CBS had its best college football ratings since 1999 and was the sport’s only network to show a ratings gain in 2007.

“If you have a team or teams that remain in the national championship hunt all season, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on your ratings,” said Mike Aresco, senior vice president of programming for CBS Sports.

LSU had five appearances on CBS in 2003, when the Tigers went on to win the BCS national championship. The seven appearances in 2007 set a school record.

“Normally, we cap our appearances at six,” Aresco said. “LSU’s seven this year included the SEC Championship Game. Alabama had seven in a regular season (2005), but there were some unusual circumstances.

“Nobody’s had more than seven.”

LSU had the benefit of extra exposure well before the 2007 season began.

Its 41-14 thumping of Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl gave the LSU brand high visibility to open the calendar year. Having four players selected in the first round of the NFL draft in April — including No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell — gave LSU more attention.

LSU coach Les Miles kept the Tigers on the sports front page and among sports radio talking points in the summer when he said USC had an easier road than LSU to the national championship game.

Then the Tigers routed Mississippi State and Virginia Tech on national television. National columnists said LSU made a convincing case for itself as the No. 1 team in the country.

LSU’s 1-2 punch to start the season left a lasting impression.

“I think that played a significant role in where we were and where we stayed (in the polls) throughout the season,” Vincent said.

“It had a lot to do with us not falling very far when we lost to Kentucky and with keeping us in a position to get back to No. 1 again.”

Michigan’s 0-2 start — beginning with its shocking loss at home to Appalachian State — began the season-long talk about Miles being a candidate to succeed Lloyd Carr as coach of the Wolverines.

Then came the dramatics and highlight-video moments of the heart of LSU’s conference schedule.

A 2:34 p.m. kickoff for a home game against South Carolina denied LSU a chance to play a Saturday night game in Tiger Stadium, but it helped keep the program in heavy rotation on “SportsCenter” and other highlight shows.

Matt Flynn, the holder on placement kicks, casually tossed the ball over his right shoulder to Colt David to begin the most enjoyable fake field goal of the season. David sprinted to the corner of the end zone, foiling Steve Spurrier and helping LSU win, 28-16.

“How many people saw that over-the-shoulder flip to Colt David who may not have seen it had that been a night game?” Vincent said. “Everybody saw it. They played it over and over and over because it happened early in the day.”

Florida, the reigning national champion, played LSU in Tiger Stadium in prime time on CBS. The network had its eye on that game long before the season.

“LSU was a terrific team last year, and but for those two tough losses could have been a national championship contender,” Aresco said. “Everybody saw what they did against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, so they were a team on our radar screen from the beginning.”

Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation, gave the approval for an October prime-time game. The network had previously reserved only September games for Saturday night prime time, before the fall lineup of entertainment shows, or games in late November (such as with Florida vs. Florida State).

“It turned out to be wonderful for us,” Aresco said, “as we had one of the really great games of the season — or any season. There were the five fourth downs LSU made, and there was tremendous drama. It was a great game.

“It was a calculated risk, and it really worked out well.”

Late in the season, Bertman laughed about the perception that Miles was a gambling coach with a reckless style revealed in that victory against Florida.

“No. 1, he was close enough on those five plays to consider going for it,” Bertman said. “People don’t give you credit for that. No. 2, he picked the right guy to handle the ball, and No. 3, he picked the right play and the weakest part of the defense to run it against.

“When you put the three things together, it isn’t so astonishing that he made them all.”

No matter. The Mad Hatter was the talk of college football after the Florida game and after Flynn’s touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd to defeat Auburn with the now-famous 1 second showing on the Tiger Stadium clock.

Between those games, LSU lost in triple overtime at Kentucky, losing its No. 1 ranking. The Tigers had become No. 1 after a less-than-sparkling 34-9 victory at Tulane thanks to Stanford’s upset of USC on the last weekend in September.

By extending to three overtimes, the LSU-Kentucky game ended in prime time and saw a spike in CBS ratings near the end.

The SEC signed its deal with CBS in 1994, and the network began televising games in 1996. That came after CBS lost the rights to NFC football and Major League Baseball.

Aresco said the partnership keeps getting better for CBS.

“The SEC has become far more of a national package than it was when we first began doing it,” Aresco said. “We felt it was a very strong conference when we did this deal years ago and that it could carry a package itself. It generated huge ratings in the Southeast, but we knew the ratings outside the region obviously wouldn’t be quite as strong.

“It still does enormous ratings in the region, but because of the BCS and because of all the drama and all the attention focused on the BCS, people from all around the country are taking an interest in the games who might not have in the past. I think we’re seeing it become a truly national package.”

Florida helped by winning the national championship last season. Arkansas running back Darren McFadden finished second in the Heisman Trophy race in 2006.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won the Heisman this season as a sophomore. McFadden finished second again. LSU has a chance to win the national championship.

Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno will be an early Heisman candidate in 2008, as will Tebow. LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux could figure in the mix.

The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships — Spurrier, Phillip Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer — and another, Tommy Tuberville, who coached a 13-0 team that didn’t get to play for the title in 2004.

Miles could become the conference’s fifth coach with a national title.

“I think I can say this categorically: You have probably the greatest roster of coaches that any conference has ever assembled,” Aresco said.

Another dramatic ending for LSU, its 41-34 comeback victory at Alabama, was another CBS game that benefited from a juicy storyline: Saban coaching the Crimson Tide against his former team for the first time.

After losing in triple overtime to Arkansas the day after Thanksgiving, LSU was seemingly out of the national championship picture. The Tigers entered the SEC Championship Game as less of a ratings draw as a result.

That changed on the morning of the game. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit cited an unnamed source in saying Miles would soon be the next coach at Michigan.

Miles called an unprecedented news conference before the game and called the report “misinformation.” He went on to say throughout the day and night he would remain as coach of the Tigers.

LSU defeated Tennessee 21-14 for the SEC championship. After Pitt upset No. 2-ranked West Virginia and Oklahoma knocked off No. 1-ranked Missouri, the possibility of LSU climbing from No. 7 in the BCS to No. 2 was suddenly on the table.

“Even at the most important time,” Vincent said, “when people were trying to rank the teams on that Saturday night, what had been on TV all day long? Les Miles, Les Miles, Les Miles.”

Columnists and analysts said the all-day LSU talk-a-thon kept the Tigers’ visibility high.

“It’s the same old adage, ‘Say what you want about us, but spell our name right.’ This year, probably more than any other, was about exposure in a bizarre year,” Vincent said.

Bertman, looking at the season from the perspective of a former coach, said nobody could question LSU’s effort. He insists the Tigers were more consistent than their reputation.

“You can play well and win,” Bertman said. “You can play well and lose. You can play poorly and win. You can play poorly and lose.

“We played well for every quarter except that first half of the Tulane game. We’ve made penalties and missed tackles, but we’ve played hard.”

The final chapter will be written — and nationally televised by Fox — Monday night.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

More eyes will be upon the LSU Tigers tonight than have ever been before... this is our chance to really shine!

To whet your appetite, check out this vid:

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BATON ROUGE -- Fresh off an SEC Championship game victory, the LSU football team knew it was going to New Orleans for a January bowl game. But, few thought the stars would re-align and the Tigers would face off with Ohio State for the Bowl Championship Series National Championship on Jan. 7.

After beating Tennessee, No. 7-ranked LSU looked forward to possibly facing undefeated Hawai'i in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

However, key upsets of No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia while the Tigers were at 35,000 feet en route to Baton Rouge from Atlanta Saturday night sent the Delta charter flight into a frenzy, as the team found they may have a shot at the title despite two triple-overtimes losses in the regular season.

Two of the other five teams ahead of LSU in the BCS standings didn't win their conference's division -- Kansas and Georgia -- while LSU beat another by 41 -- Virginia Tech. The pollsters and computers thought the Tigers' resume was too good to miss out on the BCS National Championship Game.

LSU's computer average was No. 2, while it's BCS average was .9394. Ohio State's was .9588. Virginia Tech finished third in the BCS (.8703), Oklahoma was fourth (.8572) and Georgia rounded out the Top 5 (.8392).

LSU (11-2), which was ranked No. 1 twice during the season, was ranked No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings released live on FOX Sunday evening. The Tigers were ranked No. 2 in preseason polls.

Ohio State (11-1), champions of the Big Ten, haven't played since defeating Michigan on Nov. 17. However, the Buckeyes watched as four teams ahead of them in the Nov. 18 polls -- LSU, Kansas, West Virginia and Missouri -- each lost over the next two weeks.

LSU season ticket holders requested more than 60,000 tickets to the BCS National Championship game this year. The school's 16,000-ticket allotment will mostly be distributed by LSU Priority Points.

The Tigers and Buckeyes have met twice on the gridiron, first with a 13-13 tie in 1987 in Baton Rouge before Ohio State won 36-33 in Columbus in 1988.

LSU has won National Championships in 1958 and 2003 -- beating Oklahoma 21-14 in the New Orleans Superdome on Jan. 4, 2004.

Bowl Championship Series Games

• Sugar Bowl - Hawaii vs. Georgia
• Rose Bowl - USC vs. Illinois
• Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
• Orange Bowl - Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
• BCS Championship Game - LSU vs. Ohio St.

LSU HEAD COACH LES MILES QUOTES:

“I would like to thank the voters and those people who are responsible for allowing us to play in this great game. We are humble by the selection. We will honor that game with our finest effort.”

“How it unfolded certainly could not have been scripted. We had a very difficult Saturday (last week) against Arkansas. We go to the championship game and fight and scrape to win the conference. Low and behold, No. 1 and No. 2 fall and it becomes a very talented LSU team that is voted into the game. We are excited and honored to have the opportunity. We will play a great Ohio State team that is very talented and well coached.”

Check out the article at LSU Sports.

Chrsitmas has come early for the LSU Tigers and fans! We won the SEC Championship, kept our head coach (Les Miles), and managed to squeak into the National Championship game! We'd better take care of business, because we've used up all of our luck!

Of course there will be the anti-BCS crowd whining about the decision and how a 2-loss LSU team doesn't belong, but it makes total sense if you look at the numbers, which no other team can come close to matching:

• SEC Champions -- The toughest conference in the nation
• Outright SEC Western Division Champs
• Posted an 11-2 mark, the third straight year LSU has won 11 games
• Beat school-record 6 top 20 teams, including 2 wins over top 10 teams
• Didn't lose a game in regulation (only 2 losses came in triple overtime by a total of 8 points)
• Beat No. 5 Virginia Tech, 48-7
• Beat 9 bowl-eligible teams
• 7 of 11 wins came against SEC teams
• Twice ranked No. 1 in the nation

I'm curious how many first-round draft picks will be coming out of LSU. We have a number of players who will be there, including Glenn Dorsey, Craig Steltz, Matt Flynn, and Jacob Hester. Speaking of Jacob Hester, check out this devastating hit he made in the SEC Championship game...

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ATLANTA — Will Les Miles stay or will he go if offered the head coaching job at his alma mater Michigan?

The talk over Miles’ future at LSU continues to dominate conversation on the eve of Saturday’s SEC Championship Game between the No. 5-ranked Tigers (10-2) and No. 14 Tennessee (9-3).

LSU officials confirmed Wednesday that Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin asked for permission to speak to Miles about Michigan’s coaching vacancy. LSU granted Martin’s request on the condition that Michigan officials not speak with Miles until after Saturday’s game.

No date has been set for the Michigan meeting. LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman said Thursday he expects to talk with Miles about his future with LSU after the team returns from Atlanta.

“The first thing we want to do is let the game get played,” Bertman said, “and then the first thing Monday we want to see if we can begin the process from our end.”

One member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, Chairman Jerry Shea of New Iberia, said he spoke to Miles last week and that Miles told him that he wants to stay at LSU.

“I would like to see him stay and I think he’s going to stay,” Shea said.

Fellow board member Louis Lambert of Prairieville was less optimistic.

“I hope he stays,” Lambert said, “but I’m not sure based on what I read and what I see. But I hope he stays.”

Shea said he expects the Miles matter to be wrapped up early next week, and that a quick resolution was important to the health of LSU’s football program.

“Everybody wants it to happen sooner than later,” Shea said. “It’s affecting recruiting, the players, the coaches — it’s affecting everybody.”

Shea also said the university and the athletic department have contingency plans if Miles does leave, but would not elaborate on what those are.

“I hope they don’t have to use it,” he said.

Bertman said he met in Baton Rouge recently with Miles’ Dallas-based agent, George Bass.

“I had spoken to George awhile back,” Bertman said. “The chancellor (Sean O’Keefe) called Les to tell him how much the university wants him to stay and I relayed that information to George. He (Bass) said he wanted to come down here anyway and meet.

“No money figures were thrown around, but we did talk about the fact that Les’s contract has performance clauses in it and we all agreed that we want him to stay regardless of the outcome of a single football game. This is not about waiting to see if we win this game or not.”

Bertman said Bass couldn’t act on anything on Miles’ behalf because of the timing of their meeting.

“I didn’t want to bother him (Miles) this week anymore than I want Michigan to bother him this week,” Bertman said. Attempts to reach Bass on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini continues to rank as one of the top candidates to replace the ousted Bill Callahan as head coach at Nebraska. Pelini reportedly interviewed Sunday with interim Nebraska athletic director and football coach Tom Osborne.

Pelini, who was defensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2003 and served as its interim head coach for an Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan, has declined to speak publicly or issue a statement regarding the Nebraska job.

Thursday, LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette said Pelini told him: “His focus is squarely on this team and doing whatever he can to get our defense ready to play on Saturday. There’s nothing else on his mind other than LSU football and getting ready for Tennessee.”

Bonnette said Pelini has been at practice every day this week (practices have been closed to the media) and that he will coach in Saturday’s game.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

Well, last Friday's loss to Arkansas really put a damper on the Thanksgiving weekend. I'm disappointed that we couldn't pull out the National Championship season, but that does not at all take away from the amount of pride I have in this team! These guys have been playing their hearts out and I won't take anything away from them. Besides, it is true that there isn't a team in the country who has beaten as many ranked teams... not to mention, there isn't another team in the country that can claim their only losses came in triple overtime!

Here's to success in the SEC Championship Game and whatever Bowl we play in. Hey, you never know... a miracle could happen and we could still get in the NC game!

Check out this quote from LSU coach Les Miles:

“I’ve thought about how this season has gone. Certainly we would like to have the last game back. We understand what that has cost us in our national ranking and what it means. Right now, I would like to talk about what we are, and not what we just lost. What we are is one hell of a football team. I like our team, especially the character of our team. If you think about this football team, we have not been healthy since the first game of the year. Yet, no matter who we call on to go in and make plays, they make plays.”

“This team has not lost a game in regulation. I know it does not mean much to you guys (media.) The point is, in a 60 minutes game, we play as competitive as we can be. There is not a team that we have played that has bested us in the first 60 minutes. If you had to look at the length and width of the game, that is how it is measured. Then you go to overtime, and I think our overtime system is just as flawed as any other overtime system. It’s just the way it is and it is probably correct. You have to decide it then where it takes the length of the field and certain situations out of it. It is imperfect, but a darn good system. You tell me if there are other teams in this country that can say that. If you just give us ties, like in the old system, we are undefeated with two ties. Maybe that adds up as one lost.”

“Go find a team that has losses that only came in overtime. Go find a team that compares competitively with five nationally-ranked teams and has done extremely well. I am talking about our team and what we can be, not what we just lost. I think our best football is coming. I haven’t talked to my team yet today, but I can say this – there is too much character on this team not to understand that 10 wins, third-straight time at this school, has not been done before, is special.”

Check out the full transcript at LSU Sports.

Geaux Tigers!!!

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BATON ROUGE -- There will be a lot on the line Saturday when top-ranked LSU travels to face Ole Miss in Oxford. The Tigers go into their clash with Ole Miss with the opportunity to not only capture the school’s first outright Southeastern Conference Western Division title, but to also strengthen its hold on then nation’s No. 1 ranking.

The Tigers and Rebels renew their annual rivalry at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on CBS. LSU brings a 9-1 overall mark and a 5-1 league record into the game, while the Rebels are winless in SEC action this year, sporting an 0-6 mark. Ole Miss is 3-7 overall.

LSU has won five straight and six of the last season over the Rebels, including last year’s 23-20 overtime thriller in Baton Rouge. In that game, the Tigers came from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, where they eventually won.

Despite Ole Miss winning only three games this year, LSU coach Les Miles expects another very competitive game with the Rebels. Four of the last five games between the teams have been decided by a total of 10 points.

“We are expecting their best shot and we don’t anticipate getting anything less than that,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “We’ve had a good week of preparation, both on the field as well as in the meeting rooms. We understand that that we are going on the road to play an SEC game and that we have to bring our best effort in order to be successful.”

Also on LSU’s side is the fact that the Tigers can now strengthen their grip on the nation’s top ranking after second-ranked Oregon dropped a stunner to unranked Arizona on Thursday night. Outside of LSU, the Ducks had more first place votes than any of the other contenders in last week’s polls.

With a win over the Rebels, the Tigers can also clinch their first outright SEC Western Division title. Prior to this season, LSU has shared the league title on six occasions, winning the tiebreaker and advancing to the league’s championship game three times – 2001, ’03, and ’05.

With all that being said, Miles and the Tigers are still focused on one thing, and that’s playing well against the Rebels.

A victory over Ole Miss will also give the Tigers their 10th victory this season, running LSU’s streak to three consecutive years with double-figure victories. LSU won 11 games in both 2005 and 2006. A third straight season with at least 10 victories will have LSU join Alabama, Georgia Tennessee and Florida as the only teams in SEC history to accomplish that feat.

Offensively, the Tigers bring a unit into the Ole Miss game that has been clicking on all cylinders in recent weeks, scoring 41 points against Alabama and following that with 58 against Louisiana Tech. LSU, which has scored at least 28 points in every game this year, is averaging 39 points per game and a league-leading 455 yards per contest.

Quarterback Matt Flynn has tossed three touchdowns in three straight games and has run his season totals to 1,856 passing yards and 14 touchdowns. Running back Jacob Hester continues to lead the Tigers in rushing with 706 yards and eight scores. Hester has also caught 11 passes for 87 yards and one touchdown.

The return of Early Doucet, along with the emergence of Demetrius Byrd and Terrance Toliver, has bolstered LSU’s passing game. Sophomore Brandon LaFell leads the Tigers with 39 catches for 535 yards and two scores, while Doucet has 30 receptions for 335 and four scores. Byrd, a junior college transfer in his first year with the Tigers, has 22 catches for a team-best 464 yards and four TDs.

Defensively, the Tigers continue to rely on the tone set by its defensive front, in particular defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. As a unit, LSU is ranked among the top 10 in the nation in five categories, which includes leading the country in total defense with 236.8 yards per game. LSU is also No. 3 in rushing defense at 66.0 yards per game, No. 6 in pass defense at 170.8 yards per game and 10th in scoring at 16.7 points per contest.

Safety Craig Steltz leads the Tigers in tackles with 68, while linebacker Ali Highsmith is second on the squad with 60 stops. Dorsey, along with Kirston Pittman, lead the Tigers in both tackles for losses (11.5) and sacks (6).

After Saturday, the Tigers will have a short week to close out the regular season as they host Arkansas at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23.

Check out the article at LSU Sports.

Geaux Tigers!!!

GO TO HELL OLE MISS!

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Around the Bowl and Down the Hole... Roll Tide Roll!

Most LSU fans have been waiting for this week ever since last winter, when their former coach, Nick Saban, accepted the head job at Alabama.

They have followed his every move leading up to Saturday's game in Tuscaloosa, which has been unofficially labeled "The Saban Bowl." They still are struggling to understand how he could abandon them.

Saban coached the Tigers to a pair of SEC titles and a share of the 2003 national championship and stockpiled the program with NFL-caliber talent before leaving for the Miami Dolphins. Then, after just two seasons with the Dolphins, he resurfaced at a bitter conference rival, signing a multi-year deal with Alabama worth $4million per season.

Les Miles is an impressive 29-5 in three years at LSU. He has coached the Tigers to the No.3 slot in the weekly BCS standings. If LSU (7-1, 4-1 SEC) wins out and second-ranked Boston College stumbles, the Tigers are poised to play for another national title in nearby New Orleans.

Interestingly, if Miles were to leave for Michigan, his alma mater, at the end of the season, it is hard to tell how many rabid LSU boosters would miss him. It seems not everyone is completely sold on Miles after he risked a potentially special season by going for a touchdown from the 22-yard line in the final seconds of a 30-24 win over Auburn instead of just playing it safe, calling a timeout and going for the game-winning field goal.

Saban is a more complicated story.

He developed a cult following down in the Bayou after he rebuilt an LSU program that was wallowing in the swamps with eight losing seasons in the 11 years before he arrived. Then he broke a lot of hearts. Now, his team is coming off a 41-17 victory over Tennessee two weeks ago and, in his first year on the job, he has the 17th-ranked Tide (6-2, 4-1) in position to win the West and make its first trip to the SEC title game since 1999.

It's all too much for some LSU fans, who seem desperate to see Miles beat Saban, if only to wipe out the giant shadow he still casts over Baton Rouge and show that any capable coach can succeed at this program.

Saban and Miles have spent this week repeating the same mantra, that this game is not personal between the coaches.

"I don't know what people are saying," Saban said. "I don't know what's going on out there, but I know you guys are busy creating. Unfortunately, I'm not interested in trying to be part of it."

That might be true today, but just a day after LSU thumped Notre Dame, 41-14, in the 2007 Sugar Bowl, Saban, who recruited 17 current LSU starters, did bring up the fact he recruited most of the players on that team, and he happened to mention at the SEC media day over the summer that after he left for the Dolphins, one of his administrative assistants had her tires slashed when she returned to Baton Rouge for a wedding.

Miles may have opened a window to his soul last winter, too, when he suggested to a booster club that the Tigers enjoyed playing Florida but had a new rival in "--- Alabama," then told another club that he hated the color red. "Ohio State, Indiana. When I was with the Cowboys, it was the Redskins," he said. "I look forward to going back to my roots and kicking the crap out of a team in red."

Check out the article at NY Daily News.

Finally, the time has come... what we have been waiting for all year... it's time to BEAT SABAN! I want to see him screaming at everyone until he's red in the face!!!

Check out the Geaux Tigers, Beat Bama! song on David St. Romain's MySpace page!!! Sung to the tune of Sweet Home Alabama, of course! Great song, David!

Geaux Tigers!!!

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If you’re scoring at home, that’s three consecutive epics with dramatic endings for the LSU football team. While you’re at it, make it four in a row for LSU and Auburn.

LSU kept its national championship hopes alive Saturday night with another down-to-the-wire finish, edging Auburn 30-24 on Matt Flynn’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd with 1 second left.

“This Auburn-LSU thing,” LSU coach Les Miles said, “I want you to know something: It’s not normal.”

The home team won for the eighth consecutive year in the series, and in a dramatic way for the fourth consecutive year.

The No. 5-ranked Tigers outgained the No. 18-ranked Tigers 351 yards to 127 in total offense in the second half. The game-winning drive covered 58 yards on nine plays after a short squib kick followed an Auburn touchdown.

LSU overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit, taking control in the third quarter and building a 23-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Auburn drove for a touchdown to regain the lead with 3:21 left. After Pep Levingston covered the short Auburn kickoff, the purple-and-gold Tigers had 3:13 on the clock to try for the victory against the visiting Tigers.

They used 3:12.

Flynn scrambled for yardage, pitched out to Richard Murphy and Jacob Hester and found himself facing third-and-7 from the Auburn 22 as the clock ran. LSU, which had one timeout left, apparently planned to take one more shot at the end zone before facing the prospect of a field goal attempt.

Flynn hit Byrd, who was tightly covered by Auburn defensive back Jerraud Powers, in the northwest corner of the north end zone with 1 second showing on the clock.

LSU (7-1) is tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division with Alabama at 4-1. Those teams will be off next weekend before meeting Nov. 3 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Auburn (5-3, 3-2) dropped out of a three-way tie with LSU and Alabama after losing away from home to an SEC opponent for only the second time in 16 games.

A Tiger Stadium crowd of 92,630 saw another Auburn-LSU 60-minute battle that belongs in a conversation with the previous three.

Auburn edged LSU 10-9 in 2004 by scoring a touchdown with 74 seconds left and kicking the game-winning PAT after a miss on the first try and a penalty against LSU.

An interception deep into the final minute ended LSU’s comeback hopes.

LSU defeated Auburn 20-17 in overtime in 2005, winning on Chris Jackson's field goal and Auburn's subsequent miss.

Auburn defeated LSU 7-3 last season, stopping LSU at the Auburn 4-yard line on the game’s last play.

Dramatics were nothing new to LSU’s 2007 team. In its last home game before Saturday’s comeback against Auburn, LSU rallied from a series of 10-point deficits to defeat reigning national champion Florida 28-24.

That victory wasn’t secured until LSU batted down a last-second Florida pass in the end zone.

A week later, LSU took its No. 1 ranking to Kentucky and lost 43-37 in triple overtime. The longest game in LSU history ended with LSU failing to pick up a first down on fourth-and-2.

Auburn helped make sure LSU’s next game would come down to the end.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

Yes, it's been a little quiet here for the past couple of weeks... was I tongue-tied after the Kentucky loss? Not hardly, but that was one tough game full of LSU penalties. Gotta hand it to the Wildcats, though - they played to win. As for me, I've been out of town on a camping trip to Camp Avondale and a weekend getaway to New Orleans, so haven't had much time to blog. I'll get some pics up from the Big Easy soon... promise!

Now, for that Auburn game... WOW! It was almost as big as the Florida game, and might even be designated as The Earthquake Game - Part 2. It was definitely another classic game for the books! Let's just hope that the game at Nick Saban State (aka Alabama) isn't such a close matchup.

Geaux Tigers!!!

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Every now and then you get a glimpse of how this game of college football is supposed to be played. If you watched the Florida-LSU game late Saturday night, you saw the team you want your team to be.

LSU, now the undisputed top team in the land after Southern Cal fell to Stanford, showed a stadium stuffed with more than 90,000 rabid Bayou Bengals fans and a national television audience why the Tigers are so good.

Yes, they have excellent players. And, yes, they have tradition and fan support and all the amenities needed to rise above the crowded field of contenders whose fans like to run around thrusting their index finger in the air and claiming to be Number One.

But they also have Les Miles, perhaps the best football coach in the country. At least he was Saturday night.

All you had to see was the fourth quarter of this Southeastern Conference showdown against the former national champion Gators to see what good, tough, confident coaching means to a football program.

It was, in a compound sentence, one of the best performances you could hope for in one of the biggest games of the year under the most intense pressure you can imagine.

And the Tigers made it look easy.

Beauty and bravery

While LSU fans were stunned when Florida jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, Miles just clinched that strong jaw of his on the sideline, pulled his hat down tighter on his head and watched with an understanding determination.

When interviewed coming off the field at halftime, he hardly seemed frightened by the prospects of losing. Instead, he stated exactly what his team needed to do and would do in the second half. Make more tackles and score more points.

He didn't mention take more chances, but that apparently comes with the territory if you want to be Number One.

Down 10 points with the clock running against them, the Tigers pulled out all the stops. They faked a field goal that set up a touchdown. Then, needing only a field goal to tie and extend the game to overtime, Miles wanted no part of it. He went for the victory, going for it on two critical, fourth-quarter, fourth-down situations, making it every time, barely.

The final drive, behind the gutsy running of Jacob Hester, that gave LSU its 28-24 victory with just over a minute remaining in the game was a thing of absolutely beauty and bravery.

Not only did starting quarterback Matt Flynn move his team with confidence, but also Miles was bold enough to bring in his back-up quarterback, sophomore Ryan Perilloux, in critical situations to give him the kind of steely experience you can only receive in the heat of battle.

Guts and glory

To watch LSU pull off that final, 15-play, 60-yard, 8-minute, game-winning, risk-taking drive brought college football fans to the edge of their seats all across the nation.

To witness this excellent example of guts and glory after most fans had spent the day watching their favorite teams flounder in the face of adversity was a teaching moment.

If you weren't an LSU fan or a Les Miles fan before Saturday night's phenomenal finish you probably are now.

With all due respect to the Florida Gators, who played a heck of a football game, this LSU victory gave us all a glimpse of what it means to have a great team and a great coach and how the two combine to win championships.

There was no second-guessing, no what-ifs, no question, no doubt. That final drive should be mandatory in film rooms across the nation.

Every head coach should watch it over and over again just to see how the game is supposed to be played, with confidence and passion instead of caution and fear of losing.

Check out the article at LSU Sports.

What an awesome game! It will go down as one of the greatest in Tiger Stadium!

I thought that both teams played some tough football, and you have to admire the dedication, skill and sportsmanship of everyone involved... except for Tim Tebow (at least in the sportsmanship department). Shortly after the loudspeaker announcement of the USC upset and the crowd going wild, the Gators capped off a scoring drive with a TD. Mr. Tebow decided to taunt the audience, with the "Paper Tigers, I Can't Hear You" gesture. Well, Tim, that inspired me to create the above image, may it follow you through the internet wherever you go! Who's the Paper Gator, now?

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Two TV networks are in town. Nearly 600 press passes have been handed out. The downtown Hilton hotel has sought out overflow rooms as far away as Hammond.

And The Chimes has ordered extra alligator meat, a popular choice on its menu and, perhaps not so coincidentally, the mascot of LSU’s opponent.

“I’ll not be a bit surprised if it’s a record day for The Chimes and Varsity,” co-owner Tim Hood said. “We anticipate this one as being as good and somewhat better.”

Even by game day standards, this weekend’s high-profile game at LSU is turning into a perfect storm for Baton Rouge merchants.

LSU, 5-0 and sporting its first No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press poll in nearly 50 years, hosts ninth-ranked Florida in what is perhaps the highest profile game so far this season.

How big is the game? Never mind the stadium holds 93,000. Maj. Lawrence Rabalais of the LSU Police Department said the Florida game could draw 140,000 fans, which would top the estimated 130,000 at the Virginia Tech game last month.

Making an impact

LSU economist Loren Scott, who has done studies for the LSU Athletic Department on the economic impact of LSU football games, said the LSU-Florida game will be a boon for merchants.

Scott also cited the exposure the city gets by being featured in the national media outlets.

Shows such as ESPN’s “Gameday” at LSU on Saturday and CBS morning show segments today, he said, “are almost totally positive information about what it’s like to come to the Baton Rouge area.”

“At this stage of the season … (fans) are happy and jovial, and when they’re happy and jovial they tend to spend more money,” Scott said.

“It actually begins Thursday,” Matherne said. For this weekend, “We don’t know what to expect,” he admitted Thursday afternoon. “I figure we’ll be running like crazy trying to keep up, especially with libations.”

Brandon Landry, co-owner of Walk-Ons restaurant on the south side of LSU, said beer vendors are sending in refrigerated trucks to keep up with tailgaters.

His employees have spent the week draining ice makers from the other downtown restaurants he owns with business partner Jack Warner.

“We’ve had some big games,” Landry said. “But I don’t think we’ve ever seen what we’re gonna see this weekend.”

Beer provider Mockler Beverage Co. and the local Coca-Cola bottling plant are used to big-event weekends. But both beverage companies said they’re expecting brisk sales this weekend.

“We absolutely see a difference in sales on big football weekends,” said Melanie Clark, vice president of marketing for the Gulf Coast Region Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United.

Chris Davis, who handles marketing for Mockler, called it “chaos, but controlled chaos.”

Local hotels said out-of-town fans who didn’t secure a room at least a few months ago were probably out of luck.

But that hasn’t stopped them from calling, said Tina Rance, director of sales and marketing for the Hilton Baton Rouge Capital Center.

She said the hotel has booked corporate apartments as far away as Hammond to handle its overflow demand.

“It’s been a Super Bowl atmosphere for two weeks now,” she said Thursday.

Anna Zebeau, director of sales for the Sheraton Baton Rouge Convention Center Hotel, said other local hotels have called hers asking for extra rooms.

“Everybody is sold out,” she said.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

Due to the record crowds expected for the big game tomorrow, and the fact that College Gameday will be broadcasting at 9:00am, you might want to get out to Tiger Stadium early tomorrow! The atmosphere is going to be electric! Let's just hope the forecast is wrong and it doesn't rain.

Geaux Tigers!!! Mmmm, Fried Gator... Tastes Like Chicken!!!

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BATON ROUGE -- The LSU Tigers will wear special uniforms for its game against Tulane on Saturday as part of an effort to assist the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in New Orleans.

The uniforms will feature purple jerseys with a special emblem emblazoned on the shoulders, with white helmets and white pants.