ShareThisGentlemen, start your lobbying.
LSU coach Les Miles, whose 9-1 team is fifth in the BCS, believes that the highest-ranked SEC team should play in the BCS national championship.
Of course, that team could be LSU, if the Tigers win their last two regular-season games against Ole Miss and No. 13 Arkansas, and then No. 2 Auburn loses to No. 11 Alabama next Friday or No.17 South Carolina in the SEC championship game Dec. 4.
LSU's case is that it has the seventh-strongest schedule in the nation (according to NCAA.com) and it is 4-1 against ranked teams. Three other teams in the BCS top five have a weak strength of schedule: No. 1 Oregon (10-0), No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Boise State have schedules ranked No. 93, No.85 and No. 67, respectively.
LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson, whose TD pass against Alabama two weeks ago was his first since the season opener, said Boise, Oregon and the other teams are "just coasting through the schedule."
Jefferson and backfield mate Stevan Ridley split on the subject, because Ridley thinks LSU's 24-17 loss to Auburn is huge.
"We have the toughest schedule, but at the same time, what does that matter with one loss?" Ridley said. "We've got four undefeated teams in front of us. We have a loss. And you can't take anything away from a team that's playing excellent so far and is perfect. They've won. They deserve to be up there at the top."
LSU needs to worry about winning its last two SEC games over Ole Miss, which has a two-game win streak on the Tigers, and Arkansas in Little Rock, where the Hogs have beaten LSU four of the last six times in War Memorial Stadium.
DUMB AND DUMBER
Doug Zeit, an Atlanta-based attorney for Kenny Rogers, the alleged middleman in the Cam Newton pay-for-play case, told The Associated Press on Thursday his client knows he made "a stupid decision" when he sent a fellow Mississippi State booster a text of Cecil Newton's payment plan to secure his son's commitment to the Bulldogs.
Zeit said Rogers sent the text after Cecil Newton insisted he do it. Zeit says Rogers sent the text to Bill Bell requesting $80,000 the day after Cam Newton signed with MSU, $50,000 30 days later and another $50,000 30 days after that. Zeit says no money changed hands.
George Lawson, the Newtons' attorney, told WSB-TV of Atlanta Thursday that he is "one million percent" certain Cam Newton, who signed with Auburn, didn't take any money. Lawson said if Cecil Newton discussed money, his son "knew nothing" about it.
ZACH ATTACK
No doubt Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino raised some eyebrows in the preseason when he relegated three-year starting kicker Alex Tejada to just kickoffs, elevating freshman Zach Hocker to the first option for field goals and extra points.
Hocker has been money, hitting 11 of 12 field goal attempts and all 46 extra point attempts. His 51-yard field goal at South Carolina was the longest in Arkansas history by a freshman and the longest Hogs field goal since 1988.
"I just go out there and stay calm," Hocker said. "Whether you're in front of 70,000 people that hate you or not, you still go out there and try to stay calm and thank coach Petrino for having confidence in you. When he gives you a chance, you should make it happen for your team."
(Ron Higgins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)
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