Tuesday, January 8, 2008

the Tallest of the Short

the BCS National Championship Game
Monday, January 7th, 8:00pm
New Orleans, Louisiana
Ohio State
(11-1)______Big 10_____403.68
LSU
(11-2)______SEC_____460.13
WeekOpponentoPtsRes, ScoreWeekOpponentoPtsRes, Score
9@ Penn State238.54W, 37-172Virginia Tech439.86W, 48-7
12@ Michigan235.72W, 14-36Florida377.83W, 28-24
10Wisconsin234.68W, 38-1714Tennessee349.37W, 21-14
8Michigan State196.40W, 24-178Auburn294.68W, 30-24
6@ Purdue126.73W, 23-71@ Mississippi State191.93W, 45-0
4Northwestern30.45W, 58-710@ Alabama183.77W, 41-34
3@ Washington-9.10W, 33-144South Carolina163.22W, 28-16
2Akron-140.28W, 20-212@ Mississippi-39.22W, 41-24
5@ Minnesota-195.44W, 30-711Louisiana Tech-48.56W, 58-10
7Kent-226.51W, 48-33Middle Tennessee State-67.64W, 44-0
1Youngstown State-W, 38-65@ Tulane-144.98W, 34-9
11Illinois331.14L, 21-2813Arkansas294.50L, 48-50
7@ Kentucky208.61L, 37-43

Some solid wins for both teams, the highlight being LSU's victory over Virginia Tech in the second week of the season. No real bad losses of the three that are on the board. It would seem that the edge goes to LSU, but let's look closer.

Ohio State's top 3 wins came in November with 2 of them on the road, while LSU's best 4 were at home in the beginning and middle of the season except for the Tennessee game. So Ohio State gets some extra points for their schedule. This category as a whole is about even.

This one's about even too - both teams lost games that they shouldn't have at the end of the season.

The Line: Ohio State +4.5

The Story: There's too many almost. Ohio State's chance for redemption after last year's championship game debacle, LSU's finally being healthy, the major differences between the two coaches, New Orleans recovery, etc. I'm thinking this is going to be a close one up until the end.

The Call: LSU by 6

The Result: LSU 38-24 = Heartbreak for the Buckeyes, joy for the Tigers, and air pudding for college football fans.

No comments: