ShareThisLSU players and fans must be on pins and needles anticipating Friday's high-stakes game in Baton Rouge against third-ranked Arkansas.
What's to fret?
Polls, pundits and computers all agree that 11-0 LSU is the best team in the land.
The Tigers' defense is at least the nation's second-best -- behind Alabama's.
LSU beat Alabama, 9-6, and 'Bama crushed Arkansas, 38-14.
Plus, the Tigers and Razorbacks are playing in LSU's formidable Death Valley.
So, of course, it makes sense to favor LSU over Arkansas by a couple of touchdowns.
Unless your mind wanders back to that game in Death Valley four years ago on the day after Thanksgiving, when an unranked Arkansas team upset top-ranked LSU, 50-48, in triple overtime.
Or, you start thinking about something more recent, like Iowa State's incredible come-from-behind 37-31 double-overtime upset of 26-point favorite Oklahoma State last Saturday in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State's was the biggest, but not the only upset last Saturday.
No. 4 Oregon lost at home to No. 18 USC, 38-35, and No. 5 Oklahoma fell on the road to No. 22 Baylor, 45-38.
Both were poised to move up in the polls and keep their BCS title hopes alive after Oklahoma State's loss. Instead, their national-championship aspirations were buried.
College-football teams have a tendency to crack under pressure when there's so much riding on games like those -- and like the one Friday in Baton Rouge.
Amazingly, LSU (11-2) still managed to play for, and win, the BCS title in 2007.
But this time around, a recovery from a loss to Arkansas might not be possible, since LSU probably wouldn't get to play in the SEC championship game like it did in 2007, when the Tigers beat Tennessee, 21-14.
An Arkansas victory on Friday would create a three-way divisional tie in the SEC West between No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Arkansas.
The tie is broken by the head-to-head outcome between the two highest-ranked teams in the BCS standings. So chances are, 'Bama would win the tiebreaker and get to play No. 13 Georgia in the SEC title game, since the Tide beat Arkansas and both would likely be ranked higher than LSU if Arkansas pulls off the upset.
Arkansas, which ranks 10th overall in passing and 13th in scoring, has scored 44 or more points in its last three games -- against No. 12 South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi State.
The Razorbacks' defense is pretty solid as well, yielding just 21 points a game, which ranks 30th overall.
So an upset might be possible; it's just not probable against a defense of LSU's stature on the road. Not when you consider how the Tigers responded to the pressure in Tuscaloosa three weeks ago, escaping with a three-point overtime victory.
The Unbalanced Line's call: LSU 30, Arkansas 20.
For the first time since the final Associated Press poll of 1971, three teams from the same conference (LSU, Alabama, Arkansas) occupy the top three spots in the AP poll. In '71, it was the Big Eight's Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado.
The Big Ten also has three teams ranked in succession: No. 14 Michigan State, No. 15 Michigan and No. 16 Wisconsin, all 9-2. No. 19 Penn State is also 9-2.
Is the conference really so bad that none of those teams deserves a Top 10 ranking in the BCS standings?
Probably not, and after Saturday's games between rivals Michigan and Ohio State in Ann Arbor, and Michigan State at Northwestern and Penn State at Wisconsin, that could change.
Other games this weekend that could have an impact on the Top 10: No. 5 Virginia Tech at Virginia, No. 22 Notre Dame at No. 6 Stanford, Wyoming at No. 7 Boise State, No. 8 Houston at Tulsa, Iowa State at No. 9 Oklahoma and Oregon State at No. 10 Oregon.
Wisconsin could be the best two-loss team in the country. The Badgers' losses to Michigan State and Ohio State came by way of "Hail Mary" passes in the waning moments.
But Wisconsin is up against a Penn State team with a tremendous amount of determination in the wake of a child-sex-abuse scandal that has challenged the university's honor and pride like never before.
The Nittany Lions responded with a 20-14 victory over Ohio State last Saturday in Columbus.
Madison, Wis., represents an even greater challenge, with a spot in the inaugural Big Ten title game against Michigan State hanging in the balance.
Penn State is an 18-point underdog, but could, under the circumstances, rise to the challenge and pull off the upset.
(Contact John Tucker at jtucker(at)unionleader.com.)
Must credit New Hampshire Union LeaderColumn
