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Football Preview: LSU

Posted by Steve Jones on 12/07 at 05:34 PM

When is a non-BCS game better than a BCS game?  Rarely but Penn State may have found the rarity in the Capital One Bowl match up with LSU. 

The BCS committee until very late in the process did not release Penn State.  The Nittany Lions were 13th in the BCS and in the end the BCS committee filled ten bowl spots with the teams ranked in the top ten.  There was no one outside of the top ten that received a bid.

The second Big Ten spot went to Iowa in the Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech.  Iowa not only beat Penn State this season but the game was at Beaver Stadium.

Some of the options for Penn State were the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State or TCU or the Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech.  Boise State and TCU are both undefeated.  But…what do you get by beating them?  A lot of people would just say…well you burst their bubble.  But…if they beat you, then you have great scrutiny.  Look at Oklahoma’s loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl or Utah’s drubbing of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year.  Georgia Tech is from the ACC, which struggled this season and Georgia recently handled Tech. 

LSU brings with is prestige, pedigree and the Southeastern Conference.  Les Miles team won the national title in 2007.  At one stage this season they were six and one.  At nine and three LSU has three losses to Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss.  You beat them and you make a statement. 

It is one of the better match ups of the bowl season and brings some star power to New Year’s Day.  In the last five seasons both Penn State and LSU have been in the championship mix.  Now they go head to head.  It may not be the BCS but it is a better scenario this time around.