Arkansas and LSU play at 1 p.m. CDT (ESPN2) in a game with national championship implications, and you wonder whether the difference will be tucked inside wounded pride, wounded or sore body parts or the simple but powerful combination of momentum and talent.

There is something dangerous about college teams in any sport with their collective back against the wall. Often in high-profile matchups with much riding on them, a team that has to win finds a way to do so. The team with some cushion often finds itself resting against it.

LSU (53-16) can afford to lose today. Arkansas (41-23) cannot.

The No. 1-ranked Tigers would clinch a spot in the best-of-three championship series, which begins Monday, with a victory this afternoon in Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium. A victory by the Razorbacks would force a rematch Saturday, with the winner advancing to next week's championship round of baseball.

LSU has a rested pitching staff. Arkansas does not.

Paul Mainieri said sophomore right-hander Anthony Ranaudo (10-3, 3.03) will start today for the Tigers. Mainieri said Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn told him Thursday the Razorbacks will start their closer, junior left-hander Stephen Richards (6-1, 1.80).

Richards has 30 appearances this season, all in relief. He has nine saves and an impressive 50 strikeouts -- and a respectable 18 walks -- in 35 innings.

For Ranaudo, the starting assignment is a chance to make the second time the charm -- against Arkansas, and as a starter pitching in the College World Series. He was not his usual self Saturday in LSU's first-round victory against Virginia, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks before coming out with one out in the fourth inning.

His low strikeout total -- three -- tells you this was not the Anthony Ranaudo most familiar to LSU fans, coaches and players.

“It was Anthony's toughest outing of the season," Mainieri said, "so I think it's important to get him right back on the mound. I know how hard work he works and and how competitive he is, and I know he will give us a tremendous effort."

Then there is the matter of Ranaudo's loss to Arkansas a month and a half ago in Fayetteville. He lost 11-4 after allowing five runs on five hits and three walks in six innings.

Ranaudo struck out seven but hit two batters, one of whom scored. Two of the batters he walked also eventually scored.

Since that day, Ranaudo's last five decisions have been victories. He was not the pitcher of record Saturday in LSU's 9-5 victory against Virginia.

Mainieri said Ranaudo has been “like a caged lion” since his subpar performance against the Cavaliers, waiting for a chance to get back on the mound and pitch with better command. Whether that sting of pride will be fuel for a more characteristic display of pitching or has eaten away at Ranaudo enough to sap his energy will probably be answered this afternoon.

He's had five full days to think about it. LSU's had three full days away from the playing field at Rosenblatt. The waiting game in Omaha has a dynamic all its own, and being in LSU's position can be a blessing and a curse.

You can find a lot of college coaches who'll tell you baseball is a game meant to be played every day, for developmental and other reasons, and the long wait between games in Nebraska can suck the life out of a team just as easily as it can recharge its battery.

A year ago, Georgia had four days off, thanks to rain that set the CWS schedule off its rails, and the Bulldogs didn't look like the same team one victory later. Fresno State had three days off and lost its next game.

Georgia edged Fresno State 7-6 in the first game of the championship series, but Fresno State struck back for 19-10 and 6-1 victories to win the national championship.

LSU didn't get a day off at the SEC tournament. The Tigers lost their first game and ended up playing six games in five days on their way to the championship.

There is something to be said at times for getting back on the field and playing as often as possible.

How Ranaudo managed his down-time energy this week could be the most compelling untold story in the aftermath of today's LSU-Arkansas game.

Did he leave it on a practice field or dugout bench in nearby Bellevue? At the hotel? At the private team dinner Wednesday night?

At the Henry Doorly Zoo, was there an extra caged lion, one who left his game face there?

Will Ranaudo be over-eager and under-armed? He's pitched almost twice as many innings this season as in any of his previous seasons, including high school and a freshman season at LSU that was mostly spent rehabbing from a bout with tendinitis.

Arkansas is stretching its pitching staff to the limit. The Razorbacks had to play 12 innings Wednesday night, including four pitched by ace Dallas Keuchel.

In addition to having played one more game than LSU this week, Arkansas is faced with the prospect of having another Saturday if the Razorbacks win today.

They will almost certainlly be without senior shortstop Ben Tschepikow, who had to watch teammates take batting practice Thursday, the day after a pitch hit and broke his left ring finger in the sixth inning of the victory against Virginia.

After first baseman Andy Wilkins (.325, 18 doubles, 19 home runs, 58 RBIs), Tschepikow was the marquee name on the Arkansas stat sheet. He will likely finish his season (and career) with the same stats for 2009 he has today: a .317 batting average, 12 doubles, four triples, nine homers and 47 RBIs.

Arkansas has won seven of its last eight games. LSU, which has not lost since that opening-round game at the SEC tournament, has a 12-game winning streak.

The Tigers have averaged eight runs in their last 14 games. The team ERA (3.96) is less than half of that for the entire season.

Arkansas will be the designated home team today.

It's Game Day, and Ranaudo, the Friday night ace, gets a Friday afternoon start. If he can finish off Arkansas, the Tigers will play for a national championship next week in Omaha.

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Carl Dubois has covered LSU sports on a regular basis since 1999. He'll be watching the game today on ESPN2 and writing about it for TigerDroppings.com. You can contact Carl by writing carl1061 'at' gmail.com.