Wow. I was hopeful that we could beat LSU, but I thought I was just being optimistic. Besides, they were the national champions last year, and while they definitely weren’t having another national championship year, they were still No. 18 in the country, and we were playing at their place, appropriately called “Death Valley.” LSU’s fans have been known to register on the Richter scale. So, yes, I was being optimistic to think we would beat them.
As it turns out, we didn’t just beat them, we beat them very solidly, 31-13. It could have been worse too. At the end of the game we went to the “victory formation” inside their five yard line. We missed another good opportunity to score when we intercepted the ball on their end of the field. It was just a well-played ballgame all the way around on our part. Ole Miss football teams have a tendency to fall apart in big games like this, but we didn’t. A lot of credit for that has to go to Coach Nutt. He has a lot of big game experience. His Arkansas Razorbacks beat LSU at home, in triple overtime, last season. LSU went on to win the national championship.
Saturday’s game was the first annual “Magnolia Bowl.” Also, we are now ranked No. 25 in the country in both the AP and Coaches polls.
Assuming we beat Mississippi State next Friday, we’ll get a spot in the Cotton Bowl. I don’t see any way around it. On paper, we beat Mississippi State every time. You can never be sure about rivalry games though. We better not overlook them.
The last bowl game we went to was the 2004 Cotton Bowl. It was Eli Manning’s senior season. The Cotton Bowl is a good, quality bowl, and Ole Miss fans should be thrilled. I know I would have been happy with the Music City Bowl at the beginning of the year.
This weekend there was one game with definite national championship implications. That was Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech. Texas Tech came into the game ranked No. 2 in the country, and Oklahoma was supposed to be somewhat of an underdog. The Sooners crushed Texas Tech 65-21.
I’ll spare you the “in-depth” analysis, but my prediction is we’ll see Florida vs. Oklahoma in the national championship game. Texas is ahead of Oklahoma in the BCS rankings right now, but that should change if Oklahoma beats No. 12 Oklahoma State next weekend. Oklahoma State is not a gimme by any means, but I expect Oklahoma to pull out the win. That would put Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, and Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
Yes, that’s right, we’ll be playing Texas Tech, an 11-1 team (after they beat Baylor next weekend) that was one win away from being (beaten by Florida) in the national championship game.
With any luck there will be a lot of controversy over whether it should be Oklahoma or Texas in the national championship game, and we’ll move a little closer to finding a sane method to select a national champion in college football. The BCS is definitely not it.