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Monday, November 12, 2007

LSU, Oregon, KU big three in BCS

By Associated Press

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New York — Beware of Kansas.

LSU moved into the first place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday and Oregon jumped into second place, a day after previous No. 1 Ohio State was upset by Illinois.

But third-place Kansas is the only remaining unbeaten team in the six conferences with an automatic bid to the BCS and history suggests the Jayhawks will play for a national title if they stay perfect.

An undefeated team from a major conference has never been left out of the BCS national championship game in favor of a one-loss team.

Kansas has a home game against Iowa State on Saturday, then plays Missouri at Kansas City on Nov. 24. Win that one and Kansas goes to the Big 12 championship game, where the most likely opponent will be Oklahoma.

Those games could give the Jayhawks the boost they need in the polls to overtake the Ducks, regardless of how Oregon finishes.

"I think they might even catch LSU," said Jerry Palm, a BCS analyst who runs www.collegebcs.com. "Why not? You're undefeated in a major conference and beat two top-five teams in your final two games."

LSU can rest easier than Oregon. With three games remaining, including the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 1, LSU will likely reach the BCS title game in New Orleans by winning out.

"I don't see LSU doing worse than No. 2 if they win the way they're supposed to," Palm said. "A 10-7 over Mississippi (on Saturday) could change things, because margins matter to voters."

The Ducks also have three games left, but they're past the toughest part of their schedule. The Ducks play at Arizona on Thursday night, have a road game against UCLA on Nov. 24 and finish the season against rival Oregon State at home on Dec. 1.

None of those teams is ranked, so if the Ducks struggle to a victory it could open up an opportunity for not only Kansas, but fourth-place Oklahoma or fifth-place Missouri.

Palm said it will be difficult for the Sooners or Tigers to reach the top two without LSU or Oregon losing.

"I wouldn't expect them to get the same kind of juice an undefeated team would get," he said.

LSU is No. 1 in both the Harris and coaches' polls and top-rated by the computers. The Tigers have a BCS average of .980.

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Comments

areyouserious (anonymous) says...

Just win and the rest will take care of itself!!

November 12, 2007 at 10:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

IF, we were to get to the title game I'm not sure who I'd like to play but if LSU gets there it will be the equivalent of a home game for them. I've seen LSU play enough to realize they have a very good team. My feeling is, if they lose another game this year it will be due to the arrogance of Les Miles.

November 12, 2007 at 12:32 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawklee (anonymous) says...

How can we think that we will beat up Mizzu and OU?

November 12, 2007 at 1:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

Beat up, probably not. Beat, why not.

November 12, 2007 at 2:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ku_fan25 (anonymous) says...

i dont see why we cant make it to the Big 12 championship
just take it one game at a time and if we dont make mistakes like we havent done all year i think we will play OU not so sure we will win though

November 12, 2007 at 4:32 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

Besides a KU win this weekend I'd like to see K-State beat MU. I know it's in our best interest to beat the Tigers as a one loss team but there will be so much at stake in Arrowhead if they beat K-State. A loss, god forbid would mean abandoning the B12 North, the B12 Conference, and our bid for the NC title game. Really seems unfair but all of that is at stake in just one game.

Besides, it's just so much fun to root against Mizwho.

November 12, 2007 at 5:56 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

just once i would like to see the breakdown of lsu bcs pts. how can a 1 loss team get better pts? 1 loss should equal 4 cupcakes or even worse. its still a stupid system. preconcieved bias that se conf and pac 10 conf are better than big 12

November 12, 2007 at 6:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

TwistedFish31 (anonymous) says...

You know it's got to be killing the tiger fans that they DO NOT control their own destiny. I believe the only teams that do are KU and lsu. rock chalk!

November 12, 2007 at 7:05 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

I'm sure it must bother them. I think mizwho fans actually believe football is "their" sport.

November 12, 2007 at 8:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawklee (anonymous) says...

Why don't we talk about what if we loose a game? Where will we be? You all are too optimistic.

November 12, 2007 at 9:43 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

If we lose a game it will still be a great season. We'll have a winning season, a winning conference season, a historical win over Nebraska, a run at a national title and conference title as well as a bowl invitation. Anyone else want to add to this list be my guest.

November 12, 2007 at 10:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

troutsee (anonymous) says...

Come on Jayhawklee, optimism fuels the mind and body to do great deeds.

November 12, 2007 at 10:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )