ATLANTA — Forget the “what ifs” and stop alternating between the Oregon State and Boise State foam fingers. The matchup that looks to decide whether No. 3 LSU or No. 2 USC will face No. 1 Oklahoma in the Jan. 4 national championship game starts at 7 p.m. CST in the Georgia Dome. Oh, and don’t forget that Southeastern Conference Championship thing, too.
All the pieces seem to be falling in place to allow a 12-1 LSU team to make up its 1.53 Bowl Championship Series point deficit to make it to its first national championship bowl game in school history.
BCS gurus believe a Tigers victory over Georgia will put them ahead of USC in at least six and maybe seven computer polls, while a little help from the Boise State Broncos can vault the Tigers’ once weak schedule ahead of USC’s by as much as five spots. A 38-12 Syracuse victory over Notre Dame — a USC opponent — may have put the icing on that cake early in the day, long before the Broncos take on Hawai’i — a USC opponent — at 10:30 p.m. CST.
All of this, and the Tigers don’t even need a 21 1/2-point underdog — Oregon State — to comeback and beat USC in Los Angeles today.
However, throw all of this out the window. It means nothing should the Tigers fail to defeat No. 5 Georgia for the second time this season in the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championship game.
LSU, a 17-10 victor over the Bulldogs on Sept. 20, struggled offensively throughout the first meeting. The Tigers were outgained, 411-285, but fought past Georgia with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Matt Mauck to Skyler Green with 1:34 to play in the Tigers’ SEC opener.
Much has changed, however. Georgia, which was decimated with injuries in the first meeting, has the services of big-play flanker Fred Gipson and senior tight end Ben Watson this time.
Gipson, quarterback David Greene’s favorite target in 2002, watched the first meeting from his grandmother’s couch in Georgia. The junior has played in nine games and leads the team with 17.7 yards per catch this season, but has only one touchdown. In four of the nine games he’s played, he’s caught two or fewer passes.
The Tigers have changed somewhat as well, relying on two freshmen running backs to carry the load in place of junior Shyrone Carey and sophomore Joseph Addai. Although Addai and Carey will see considerable action tonight, Justin Vincent and Alley Broussard have been staples in the backfield since both Addai and Carey suffered knee injuries midway through the season.
In spite of the changes, the championship game will pit two explosive defenses against two efficient offenses just as it did more than 11 weeks ago.
Bowl Championship Rankings (courtesy of ESPN.com)
| Team | AP | ESPN USA Today |
Poll Avg. |
A&H | RB | CM | KM | NYT | JS | PW | Computer Average |
SOS | Sched. Rank |
Losses | Sub Total |
QW | Total | |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 14 | 0.56 | 0 | 2.56 | -0.5 | 2.06 |
| 2 | USC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2.5 | 3 | 2 | 2.42 | 37 | 1.48 | 1 | 6.90 | 6.90 | |
| 3 | LSU | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2.67 | 54 | 2.16 | 1 | 8.83 | -0.4 | 8.43 |
| 4 | Michigan | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 4 | 4.42 | 10 | 0.40 | 2 | 10.82 | -0.6 | 10.22 |
| 5 | Ohio State | 8 | 7 | 7.5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5.17 | 4 | 0.16 | 2 | 14.83 | 14.83 |