As we all know, Strength of Schedule is a pretty important facet of the BCS. With LSU looking for any way to boost its standing, they could look for a little help during the bye week. The Tigers have already gotten help with Miami of Ohio defeating Bowling Green (hurting Ohio State) and Arkansas beating South Carolina (LSU has more common opponents with Arkansas). Here's a look at all of the games being played on Saturday and who the Tigers should root for... ACC Florida State vs. Clemson - Clemson (hurts Florida State, helps Georgia) Georgia Tech vs. Duke - Georgia Tech (helps Auburn) Wake Forest vs. North Carolina - Wake Forest (helps Vanderbilt) Big XII Texas Tech vs. Baylor - Texas Tech (helps Ole Miss) Missouri vs. Colorado - Missouri (hurts UCLA, which hurts USC) Kansas State vs. Iowa State - Iowa State (hurts Cal, which hurts USC) Nebraska vs. Kansas - Kansas (helps Missouri make Big XII Title Game, hurting OU) Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma - Texas A&M (hurts OU) Texas vs. Oklahoma State - Texas (helps Arkansas) Big East West Virginia vs. Boston College - West Virginia (hurts Florida State & USC) Virginia Tech vs. Pittsbugh - Pittsburgh (hurts VT) Temple vs. Syracuse - doesn't matter Tennessee vs. Miami - Tennessee (hurts Miami, helps entire SEC) Rutgers vs. UConn - Rutgers (helps Louisiana Tech) Big Ten Illinois vs. Indiana - Indiana (helps SEC, hurts USC & Oklahoma) Iowa vs. Purdue - Purdue (helps Arizona) Michigan State vs. Ohio State - Michigan State (hurts Ohio State, helps La Tech) Wisconsin vs. Minnesota - Minnesota (hurts Ohio State & Big East teams) Penn State vs. Northwestern - Penn State (hurts Michigan) Conf USA Army vs. Air Force - Army (helps SEC, hurts USC) South Florida vs. East Carolina - South Florida (hurts Miami) Southern Miss vs. Houston - Southern Miss (hurts Michigan) Tulane vs. UAB - Tulane (barely, almost doesn't matter) MAC Ball State vs. Western Michigan - Ball State (hurts Ohio State & Florida State) Akron vs. Central Michigan - Akron (hurts Michigan) UCF vs. Eastern Michigan - Eastern Michigan (hurts Big East) Northern Illinois vs. Buffalo - Northern Illinois (helps Alabama) Kent State vs. Ohio - Ohio (helps Kentucky) Mt. West San Diego State vs. UNLV - UNLV (hurts Ohio State) Pac Ten Washington vs. Arizona - Arizona (helps LSU) Arizona State vs. Stanford - Stanford (hurts Michigan & Ohio State) California vs. Oregon - Oregon (hurts USC) UCLA vs. Washington State - Washington State (hurts Oklahoma) SEC Alabama vs. Mississippi State - Alabama (helps LSU, more common opponents) Ole Miss vs. Auburn - Ole Miss (helps LSU, more common opponents and higher BCS ranking) Vanderbilt vs. Florida - Florida (helps LSU) Sun Belt Idaho vs. Arkansas State - doesn't matter FIU vs. ULL - ULL (helps LSU) North Texas vs. UL Monroe - ULM (helps LSU) Troy State vs. Mid Tenn St - Mid Tenn State (helps Georgia) Utah State vs. NM State - doesn't matter WAC SMU vs. Louisiana Tech - Louisiana Tech (helps LSU) Fresno State vs. Nevada - Fresno State (helps Tennessee, hurts USC) Tulsa vs. Rice - Tulsa (helps Arkansas) San Jose State vs. UTEP - UTEP (helps La Tech) Obviously, some of these are more important than others, but anything helps at this point. With LSU's SOS sure to improve after playing its final three SEC games, these little decimal points could come in handy.
I think this shows how unlikely it would be for LSU to make it to the championship game, even if they sweep the remaining games (which is very probable, IMO). I hope we won't be too disappointed if the Tigers go 12-1 but still don't make it to the Sugar Bowl. No LSU team has ever won 12 games in a single season, so that would quite an accomplishment in itself.
I'm assuming you mean the National Championship game? We all know the SEC is in our own hands! :geaux:
Let's hope for Tennessee to hang on... Also, a Florida State loss to Clemson would be HUGE because it would drop FSU and help SOS for Georgia and South Carolina, who face Clemson.
