Not much to report today in Baton Rouge. Les Miles did confirm the hiring of Ron Cooper to be the Defensive Backs coach yesterday. This past season at South Carolina, Cooper was the the safeties coach for a secondary that ranked No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference against the pass. This past season, LSU's pass defense was ranked No. 73 nationally, and No. 11 in the SEC. You can read more about coach Cooper here.

Still no confirmation on the hiring of Brick Haley to coach the Defensive Line. Either he hasn't accepted the job yet, or Les Miles is waiting to see what current DL coach Earl Lane chooses to do. It was mentioned on our Coaching Changes Board that Lane might stay on at LSU in an administrative capacity to free up a spot for a new DL coach.

Keep in mind that LSU is limited to 9 assistant coaches. Mallory and Peveto (aka Malveto) have left. Chavis and Cooper have been hired to replace them. If Brick Haley or any assistant coach is to be brought in, a current one must leave.

On the Football Recruiting front, LSU is still sitting pretty with a top ranked recruiting class, highlighted by QB Russell Shepard (click here to see his speed on display in his highlight video). If you want to learn more about our class, or discuss potential recruits with fellow LSU fans, check out our Recruiting Board.

In basketball news, the LSU Basketball team is recovering from their 91-61 drubbing at the hands of the Utah Utes, whose football team is still basking in the glow of their arse-whipping of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. TD user "Stromile Swift" gives a great recap of the game and provides a frank assessment of the program.

Back to college football, where Florida will face Oklahoma in the BCS title game in Miami tonight at 7pm Central Time. Both teams are vying for a chance to tie LSU with two BCS titles. If any year was screaming for a playoff, it was this year. After attending the Sugar Bowl and watching the Utes crush Alabama, I honestly believe that they could handle Florida or Oklahoma. Texas, who actually beat OU, and USC could just as easily argue that they belong in this game tonight. What we have no in a two-team playoff, which is a lot better than the system that was in place before the BCS was created. My hope is that the NCAA figures a way to expand it to four teams. Use the current BCS formula to arrive at the top four teams, and go from there. We can expand it to 6 or 8 teams later, but at least start off with four teams. There is no legitimate reason not to.

In SEC news, Georgia's offense for next year will have big shoes to fill as Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno both announced their intentions yesterday to enter the NFL draft. This was not a surprise to many people, as both players are projected to go in the first round. Caleb King and Richard Samuel, who played behind Moreno as freshmen this season, will move up at tailback, while senior Joe Cox will likely get the starting job at quarterback.

You would hope that LSU's chances against the Dawgs in Athens next year just got a little better with the departure of Stafford and Moreno. LSU has lost three games in a row against Georgia, and the last four played in Athens. LSU last beat Georgia in Athens back in 1987, 26-23. Georgia is the only team in the SEC that Les Miles has not beaten. Read more about other SEC teams on the SEC Rant board.

That's all for today.

Chicken (aka Brian Fiegel or Fiegs) is a very happily married man and father of two living in Houston. When he is not posting on TigerDroppings.com, he is solving complex business problems for large multi-national corporations as an SAP software consultant. In his free time, he enjoys drinking Coors Light and wearing his favorite LSU t-shirt that he purchased from TigerDistrict.com. He can be reached at tigerdroppings@gmail.com.

Filed Under: LSU Sports