Twice as Sweet! LSU to Face Ohio St. in BCS Title Game

12/02/2007) BY www.LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE -- Fresh off an SEC Championship game victory, the LSU football team knew it was going to New Orleans for a January bowl game. But, few thought the stars would re-align and the Tigers would face off with Ohio State for the Bowl Championship Series National Championship on Jan. 7.

After beating Tennessee, No. 7-ranked LSU looked forward to possibly facing undefeated Hawaii in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

However, key upsets of No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia while the Tigers were at 35,000 feet en route to Baton Rouge from Atlanta Saturday night sent the Delta charter flight into a frenzy, as the team found they may have a shot at the title despite two triple-overtimes losses in the regular season.

Two of the other five teams ahead of LSU in the BCS standings didn't win their conference's division -- Kansas and Georgia -- while LSU beat another by 41 -- Virginia Tech. The pollsters and computers thought the Tigers' resume was too good to miss out on the BCS National Championship Game.

“I would like to thank the voters and those people who are responsible for allowing us to play in this great game,” LSU coach Les Miles said on Sunday after the bowl pairings were announced. “We are humbled by the selection. We will honor that game with our finest effort.”

The unlikely scenario that put the Tigers into the BCS title game couldn’t have been possible had LSU, which was playing without its starting quarterback in Matt Flynn and All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, not rallied for the win over Tennessee. Against the Vols, LSU defensive back Jonathan Zenon returned an interception 18-yards midway through the fourth quarter to lift the Tigers to the victory.

“How it unfolded certainly could not have been scripted,” Miles said. “We had a very difficult game against Arkansas last week. We then go to the SEC Championship Game and fight and scrape to win the conference. Low and behold, No. 1 and No. 2 fall and it becomes a very talented LSU team that is voted into the game. We are excited and honored to have the opportunity. We will play a great Ohio State team that is very talented and well coached.”

LSU (10-2), which was ranked No. 1 twice during the season, was ranked No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings released live on FOX Sunday evening. The Tigers were ranked No. 2 in preseason polls.

Ohio State (11-1), champions of the Big Ten, haven't played since defeating Michigan on Nov. 17. However, the Buckeyes watched as four teams ahead of them in the Nov. 18 polls -- LSU, Kansas, West Virginia and Missouri -- each lost over the next two weeks.

LSU's computer average was No. 2, while it's BCS average was .9394. Ohio State's was .9588. Virginia Tech finished third in the BCS (.8703), Oklahoma was fourth (.8572) and Georgia rounded out the Top 5 (.8392).

The Tigers and Buckeyes have met twice on the gridiron, first with a 13-13 tie in 1987 in Baton Rouge before Ohio State won 36-33 in Columbus in 1988.

It will mark LSU’s second appearance in the BCS Championship Game as the Tigers beat Oklahoma 21-14 to claim the BCS title in 2003. The game against Oklahoma was also played in the Louisiana Superdome.

LSU is also making an appearance in a BCS bowl game for the second straight year and the fourth time overall.

LSU's other national championship in football came in 1958.