My Sentiments exactly!!! Thanks for putting it in words for me Tiga! And Thanks Guys for all the other thoughts!

Can not wait till kick off!! :geauxtige

108 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes, 15 seconds

Heather

I think that Miles is capable of winning a National Championship.

The main reason is that Miles has been able to keep up the trend for LSU to have a top 10 defense.

And my favorite quote from Les Miles on how the season will be for the tigers: "My first year we finished No. 5 and then last year we finished No. 3," he said, as the crowd began to buzz. "There's only one odd-numbered slot left there at the top, and that's No. 1."
SO.............Miles Believes!

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That is good to hear. This means they will take one game at a time on the road to winning the East first, then the SEC, then compete for the BCSNC.
With what CLM & staff has learned the past 2 years this should benefit how they approach each game. I still say it's a crap shoot for any team to win a BCSNC, especially from the SEC. If he pulls an undefeated season and secures the BCSNC he will go down as one of the greatest SEC coaches ever. I like his chances. Let's pray for no injuries!

:geauxtige

Can you cite an example of that?

If you look at his first season in SC, you'll find he kicked what,..., 13 off of that team?

Of course he can.

yes he can....but so can a dozen other teams if the breaks fall right. last year rutgers was in contention, as was west va., louisville, etc. a tipped ball becomes a game saving interception or vice versa. #5 breaks a tackle and scores as time runs out or he is stripped of the ball at the 2... it's all about preparing, executing, and luck.

miles can win a nat'l championship, if he gets to one.

i think getting there for an SEC team IS the tall order. SEC teams beat each other up so much, it's hard to get an undefeated team there (if there are other BCS undefeateds).

it took a monumental USC upset to get Fla. there this past year. there were many dominos that needed to fall for us in '03. heck, tenn was headed to the NC in '01 till they ran into us in ATL.

getting there takes its fair share of everything falling into place. sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. the schedule is not a friend in even years for us just like auburn has a hard schedule in odd years. even in odd years, LSU still has to have things fall into place.

plus you'll have to deal with the polls.

if LSU starts the year #4 and they have let's say Oklahoma, USC, and Ohio St in front of them, you're already behind the 8 ball in position (if all team win out) then if some losses do occur, the timing of those losses come into play.

add that to a dozen other factors and LSU winning it all is a tall order in any year even with our talent being as good as anyone else's.


in short, if miles had ND, ariz st, ariz, oregon, oregon st, UCLA, Wash st, etc. on the schedule every year and not have to play in a conference champ. game i'd say you cuold book him one in the next 5 yrs, but b/c we reside in the SEC his odds lengthen exponentially (sp?).

I guess we could dwell in the unmeasurable fluff of "if we only played their schedule, we'd be "King".... but the fact that the SEC now has the most BCS championships, has the second most BCS appearances, has the best BCS record of 9-4 (the Pac-10, btw, has the second best BCS record at 7-4, so they're not quite all that bad)... so it's kinda hard to argue that you're not getting your turns on the pinball machine... or that you conference is holding you back somehow.

Hey, did you know LSU has the best BCS record of all schools, 3-0? (Texas and Wisconsin are 2-0) Given that... plus the fact that the SEC has never lost in a BCS Championship game... I'd say I'd bet "with ya" when you get there.

So, can Miles win a National Championship? Sure, he just needs to do what the other champs have done and fix the "Achilles Heel" of LSU football... because it certainly isn't a lack of talent that will keep him home.
The Achilles Heel... turnover margin/special teams play.
The three years LSU has been in a BCS game, you've had an even or positive T/O ratio.
year/rank...... take aways/give aways.... +/-..record
2006(58)..........21..............21............0......11-2 (BCS)
2005(99)..........14..............23...........-11.....9-3
2004(73)..........23..............25...........-2.......9-3
2003(39)..........33..............28............+5.....13-1 (BCS)
2002(67)..........25..............26............-1......8-5
2001(45)..........26..............23............+3......9-3 (BCS)
2000(65)..........21..............22............-1......7-4

No team has ever won the BCS Championship with a Turnover Ratio of less than +5 or ranked lower than the top 40 in t/o margin.
Here's the stats since 2000:
2006... Florida... +5.... rank 37
2005... Texas.... +7....27
2004....USC.......+19...1
2003...LSU.........+5....39
2002...OSU........+13...18
2001...Miami......+26....1
2000...Okla........+6.....30

So my guess is when Miles does pull it off... and he probably will... it will have more to do with the breaks his team created during the season than what happened to some other team from some non-deserving conference.:yelwink2: