Why does this need to be settled on the field? I couldn't care one bit for USC one way or the other, yet so many here seem to have USC envy for some reason.

The split title thing is stupid. A game any year other than that year would not settle anything about the 2003 title. Whichever team loses a matchup in the future will have fans who loudly (and correctly) claim that it doesn't settle the score from 2003, so why obsess with it?

Meanwhile, Les Miles has to compete for championships and I don't see how it benefits LSU to play USC during the regular season. It has no impact on the SEC chase, and without an SEC title, LSU won't compete for a national championship. And by the way, LSU will hurt its chances for a national championship even with an SEC title if it has OOC losses. Let the pollsters wonder what would happen in a hypothetical matchup...I don't care. I just want LSU in position to win the national title, and playing USC doesn't help that. I mean, if they beat USC during the regular season, that helps...but if they can beat USC during the regular season, they're probably good enough anyway to persuade voters without that matchup. Meanwhile, if they lose to USC in the regular season, then...

Just focus on winning the SEC West so LSU can go to Atlanta at the end of the year. If LSU can go to Atlanta consistently, they will win it at least some of the time. If they regularly compete for the SEC title for long enough, you'll get your USC game in a bowl and then the debate will endlessly continue, since as I noted previously, an LSU/USC matchp proves absolutely nothing about the past. They are both great traditional programs who would no doubt put on quite a show in a bowl game.

Just focus on winning the SEC West and forget about what's happening on the left coast. The rest will take care of itself.

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Posted by WNCTiger

Member since Aug 2006

2883 posts

Posted on 9/18/09 at 2:27 pm to sml71

You make good points.

I was writing from my perspective, as a fan.

I would like the Tigers to play more top programs, either current or all time top programs -- 1 a season would be plenty.

The excitement generated by the OOC matchups is worthwhile and puts our name out there.

It may hurt our national championship hopes like VT 2002, or it may actually help, like VT 2007.

We know what the Tigers can do, as do other SEC fans.

Fans nationwide, particularly the west coast, not so much.

I say take on all comers. If you aspire to be thought of as an elite program on a national level, I think you have to do that.

But you can't really single out LSU among SEC teams for having a weak OOC schedule. It's the way things are done in the SEC for obvious (to us anyway) reasons.

I support the Tigers either way.