NCAA: LSU Tigers Set to Pounce into BCS Championship

As many fans of teams from the Southeastern Conference can attest, the only thing more important than football is god. Because of that, the entire region, from Louisiana to Florida and up to Tennessee waits breathlessly for the beginning of the college football season. Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana State, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia - - they continually sell-out each and every home football game, some times filling their stadiums past one-hundred thousand fans.

That's a statement not only to the importance of college football in the region but to the rabidity of each university's fan base. The pressure on college football and coaches in the SEC is like no other place in the country. Lose here, and you lose way more than a game. You could lose your job, your reputation, and your very way of life. That's a lot of pressure and because of that pressure it is virtually impossible for a team to go undefeated in the SEC. Florida for instance, last year's 2007 BCS Champion, lost an early game to Auburn before fighting their way back into the BCS picture.

With that being written, there is one team in the SEC who can go undefeated, in fact should go undefeated, and has a terrific chance to find themselves in the BCS Championship game come January 2008. The team is the LSU Tigers.

LSU has three things going for it. The first is their defense. They return eight starters on defense including both cornerbacks, Jonathan Zenon and Chevis Jackson, and both defensive tackles, Glenn Dorsey and Charles Alexander, and all three line-backers, Luke Sanders, Darry Beckwith, and Ali Highsmith. They were all ready one of the best defenses in the nation last year, and should be the best defense in the nation this year. Nobody should be able to score easily on the LSU Tigers.

They also return starters on offense. The knock, of course, is that their leader last year, quarterback Jamarcus Russell, exited the college ranks to join the Oakland Raiders in the NFL. That won't be a problem because the Tigers return players on offense at key positions. The entire left side of their offensive-line returns: left tackle Ciron Black, and left guard Herman Johnson. Their center, Brett Helms, also returns. With that sort of protection up front, LSU's running backs and new quarterback should have no issues getting down the field.

The final reason for LSU's dominance this year rests in their schedule. While many Division I teams load their non-conference schedule with cupcakes, LSU has decided to take on a very good, nationally ranked, Virginia Tech squad early in the year. At that point, both teams, LSU and Virginia Tech, should be ranked in the top ten. Virginia Tech, in fact, is the favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. This, on top of their annual schedule against top-ranked opponents in the SEC, ensures that LSU's strength of schedule rating, something the BCS committee takes very seriously, will be off the charts.

There is another thing about LSU's schedule that works in their favor. They play their most important SEC rivals at home. Florida, Auburn and Arkansas all have to travel to Baton Rouge to take on the Tigers and Tennessee, always a tough team to play, isn't on the schedule this year.

Can LSU go undefeated in the most competitive football conference in the nation? Not only can they go undefeated it is expected that they go undefeated.