National Championship Game Should Include LSU

The BCS was once again thrown into turmoil yesterday when the number one and two teams in the country, West Virginia and Missouri, both managed to lose there games. Missouri I expected to lose, but West Virgina's loss to Pittsburgh shocked me and proved that they should not have been in the discussion for top team in the country. With that said, now the BCS will have it's final poll come out soon and Ohio State is sure to be the number 1 team in that poll because they only have one loss and were 3rd in the last poll. The question then becomes who should be number 2 and play them in the national championship game. There are a couple of two loss teams that will try to make a case, and I will go through them, but LSU is the team that should be there.

Georgia 10-2 Previous BCS Rank #4

Georgia will say that they were number 4 so they should move up just like OSU did and be in the national championship game. They were number 4 before this week, two people lost, so they should be two. Georgia has put a string of games together and has been dominant in a tough SEC schedule ever since the Florida game. They have beaten 4 teams that were ranked in the top 25 when they played them, but only two of them remain in the top 25 now. Georgia lost early and that always helps when you are talking about these polls. Georgia is a good team, but the problem I have is that not only did they not win their conference, they didn't even win their half of the conference and get into the title game. Georgia was beaten at home by an average South Carolina team, who then went on to be beaten soundly by LSU, and they were trounced by Tennessee, who just lost to LSU in the conference title game. If you can't win your conference you should be in line for a national championship.

Kansas 11-1 Previous BCS Rank #5

Kansas only has one loss so they should jump these two loss teams right? Wrong. Kansas beat up on terrible teams all year long and everyone bought into the hype, but when the time came to play a decent team, they folded like a lawn chair. Missouri out matched Kansas in every phase of the game and showed what a fraud Kansas really was. They are a decent football team, but they are not good and again just like Georgia they did not even win their half of the Big 12 conference. Kansas fans will yell that they have only one loss, but when you don't play anyone that is an easy way to only have one loss, and if you don't win your conference, you don't deserve a NC bid.

Virginia Tech 11-2 Previous BCS Rank #6

Virginia Tech is the next highest ranked team and they won their conference so they should go right? Wrong again. Virginia Tech did win their conference and has some quality wins over 4 top 25 teams on the year, with 3 of those being in the ACC. Tech has improved over the course of the season and they have a great defense, but the ACC is not a strong conference and when they stepped out of conference to play LSU they were thrashed and were never even in that game. VT deserves to play in a BCS game because they won their conference, but that conference was down this year and when they stepped out they were exposed as being the best team in a weakened conference.

USC 10-2 Previous BCS Rank #8

USC is one of the best teams in the country right now and they actually make a very string case. USC won their conference, which was very tough. Many people on the East coast do not watch the Pac 10 much and don't think it is very good outside of USC. I can tell you that this was true in years past, but this year the conference was very tough in the top of it. USC had two losses on the season, with one being a devastating loss to one of the worst teams in the country, Stanford. USC was banged up in the Stanford game and in the Oregon loss as well. John David Booty was injured the whole Stanford game and was not able to play against Oregon. Now that the Trojans are all healthy they have steamrolled ASU and UCLA on their way to a Pac-10 championship. While I think they make a great case, I still would put LSU over them.

Oklahoma 11-2 Previous BCS Rank #9

Oklahoma is another team that looks to be deserving in this crazy year. Oklahoma beat Missouri twice this year, including in the Big 12 Title game. They have two losses, but in the Texas Tech loss they had to play without quarterback Sam Bradford, who has had a great season and has been there leader. They have shown that when Bradford is in the game they are able to beat pretty much anyone and beat them soundly. There other loss to Colorado was a big loss because they had a huge lead going into the second half and basically became anemic on offense and gave up big plays on defense to an average Colorado game. The Big 12 was not great this year so there strength of schedule makes it hard for me to place them above USC or LSU.

LSU 11-2 Previous BCS Rank #7

LSU has the most talent in the country on their team. They do have two losses, but both losses were in long overt time games, one at Kentucky and the other at home. LSU has played the toughest schedule by far of the teams that are vying for a birth in the BCS National Championship game. They played 7 teams that were in the Top 25 when they played and two of those are still in the Top 10 now, Florida and Virginia Tech. LSU's struggles came in a stretch where they played some of the toughest teams in the SEC without a break. LSU played Tennessee for the SEC championship without there starting quarterback and still managed to beat them, something that USC was unable to do without there starter as was Oklahoma. LSU played a tougher schedule, had closer losses, and is the better team than the teams that are vying for the number 2 spot. The only thing LSU did bad, was lose late. LSU is the better team and they should be in the National Championship game against OSU.