Have to agree with those who said Oregon. Our conference reputation carries it's own merits so beating the big players in the SEC will, in itself, be a statement. Dominating an OOC team like Oregon would put a lot of wind in our sails right out the dock imo. I don't think it's THE most important game though, not close.
Without doubt ... Oregon. It sets the template for the strength of the SEC in general. Even if we lose to Bama, Oregon will have lost to us. Thus, even if Oregon wins out after a loss to LSU, it shows they don't play anyone worth playing. I also think beating Oregon will set the stage of confidence in the team to spank Bama. Losing to Oregon carries with it the risk, that we LSU can be beat by a good team. ... and I don't want to get beat by anyone. :geaux:
Anyone can be beaten by anyone: i.e. UAB. There will be roughly 8 weeks between the Oregon game and the Bama game. The Oregon game will not help LSU in the conference standings. By beating Oregon in the opener, it not only makes LSU 1-0, but sets the tone in the rankings and helps our strength of schedule, making us look better to the computers once the BCS polls come out. That's only "if" the tigers can get past the Florida game undefeated. LSU has a pretty favorable home schedule with Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, and Kentucky all coming to Baton Rouge, but the away schedule is what, well, somewhat worries me. Alabama (both teams coming off bye weeks), Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and West Virginia are all away games. We all know what can happen on the road in the SEC. All of the games are important, but if we get a good, quality win against a good, quality opponent in Oregon, this team will gain a ton of confidence, which should carry over to the following weeks.
I disagree - a lot. The reason we played for :crystal: had little to do with a statement game over Va Tech. AND, a late season in-conference-statement-game is much more desirable The reason we got to play for :crystal: was because we survived; because CLM's teams don't quit. By the time the final polls came out Va Tech was just another victory. It was more important for the fact that we didn't lose it than style points. I've bullet pointed the details below. We actually had two statement games at the beginning of the year. We drilled what was supposed to be a strong Miss State team on national TV the week before Va Tech. And back to back statement games meant squat in the final poll - they were just wins. We stayed at #2 after beating Bama 41-34 in their house and only got 5 first place votes. Ohio State was still undefeated. I'm saying a score of 48-7 , like Va Tech, at Bama gives us more first place votes at that point than an early season dominant game. And that it will carry more weight with the voters thru the last BCS poll. Even in a situation where we're not playing for :crystal: a late season statement game will result in a higher final rating and therefore better bowl. When it's late November and voters are filling out their final BCS ballots nobody is thinking about what happened in September hundreds of games ago. They remember November. A late season in-conference-statement-game puts us in position for most desirable bowls at selection time. It may be more fun to start the year with a statement game, but there's more value in a late season statement game. Look at it this way - an early season statement game is cotton candy, tastes good but doesn't stick with you; a late season statement game is steak and it can carry you through the rest of the season. NOTE - the reference to weeks below is the BCS poll week - not LSU schedule weeks. We started the year #2, behind USC and stayed like that weeks 1 thru 5. Even after beating Va Tech in week 3 we were still #2, but with more first place votes, for two more weeks. We barely edge out USC for 1st place after the Tulane game in week 6 In week 7 we beat Florida in the 4th down game and USC looses. We get all the first place votes. Week 8 - Triple overtime loss to Kentucky - we drop to 5th. Would have dropped more but there are only 3 undefeated teams in the top 10. We worked our way back up to #1 in week 12 mainly because people ahead of us were losing - not because we looked dominant. This was after the La Tech game, the week before we had beaten, but not dominated, Bama. Va Tech domination was a distant memory in this crazy year. Week 14 Darren McFadden and Felix Jones combine for 300 yards for the Hogs and another triple overtime loss - we drop to 5. Final regular season BCS Poll Missouri, West Va, Ohio State, Georgia, LSU Missouri looses in the Big 12 Championship game, West Va looses to Pitt in a HUGE upset, Georgia is left out because the Vols are in the SEC Championship game LSU and Ohio survive.
All true and a valid point, but, the early games set the tone for the rest of the season. In the case of that season, we beat Mississippi State 45-0 on their field in the first week. Then we throttled VT at home. You lose either one of those games and the rest of the season you're playing for the cotton bowl. It also helped a great deal that we started off the season being ranked so high. Plus the fact that all the teams lost that we needed to lose at crucial times. Like you said, we survived. (I can still hear Mark Richt crying to the media about how his team should have a chance to play in the title game even though they didn't win their conference.) Crybaby. The fact of the matter is you have to hit the ground running early, as soon as the season starts, and keep that momentum going. Like I've said before, you beat a legit OOC opponent in Oregon in week 1, you look better in the polls, especially if they run through their own conference like they did this year. It's all about the tigers flexing their muscles and setting the tone early. Next season is our best chance to win a title since 07, all the dominos have to fall just right.
I like your points also. And thanks for refreshing the great memory of Richt retionalizing how he couldn't win a 6 team division but should play for the :crystal:. With skills like that he could be a White House Press Sec. So our different outlook is really around who the 'Statement' game makes a statement to. You see it more as a statement the team is making to itself, and from that perspective I agree Oregon is better. I was viewing it as a statement to voters for better end of season ranking. I think we can agree best would be to beat the crap out of Oregon and Bama for a dual statement season.
Definitely. Bama would be the in-conference statement game. Beating Saban again, at his place, the voters cannot deny that. They also couldn't use the bye week as an excuse because Bama shares the same bye week. If LSU goes into the bye undefeated then beats Bama, that would give LSU 4, possibly 5 or 6 wins against top-25 teams. With that strength of schedule LSU should be #1 in all the polls by that point. If we're a one loss team by then, I can see us still in the top 5.
