Sitting in front of the last game of the regular season, LSU is #1 and Kansas is #2. I mentioned before that I'm completely surprised at Kansas' comeuppance this year. I haven't been watching the team over the years and now I'm wondering if this has been building up or just a singular great run. Either way, the definitive game of the season will undoubtedly be Kansas vs. #4 Missouri. I don't mean to lessen the value of the LSU vs. Arkansas game, but I expect, win or lose, LSU and #9 Georgia will be meeting, once again, for the SEC championship. I guess the only thing left is #3 West Virginia. Maybe I'm just biased because I'm from Louisiana and went to high school in Kansas, but I have no idea why West Virginia is even up here. I'm looking at the teams they've played and I'm not impressed. If this team gets past the conference championship, I'll be surprised. Beyond that, I'd put money on the fact that they don't make it out of the BCS bowl alive.

Well, looks like, after a week of questioning LSU's position in the Associated Press rankings, it's become unanimous across each of the major college football ranking systems: LSU is #1. This past game was an important one for the team. LSU came out strong this year, killing the competition in 4 of its first 5 games, which included a game that was expected to be the best non-conference match this year -- apparently, someone forgot to tell Virginia Tech that. All-in-all, these seemed fairly easy games for the Tigers. This is perhaps why I was worried. The team has a history of getting a little too cocky. Heck, the first half of the season is always the easiest, so this obviously kick-starts their adrenaline to a dangerous high. With Florida experiencing a bad in-conference loss to Auburn costing them 5 spots, I knew the Gators would bring it to this match in a fiery attempt to prove their worth. This just spelled disaster to me. I wasn't too far off, either. Florida came out very strong in the first half, keeping ahead and making onlookers question the "#1 defense." Don't get me wrong, I think LSU did a great job, but this wasn't what I was used to seeing. In a turn of events, LSU followed up with an atypical second half to match its first half. LSU is typically a team that comes on strong and dies off in the second half. Not this game. While the team didn't dominate like I would have expected a #1 team to dominate, they did pull the stops they needed to. After watching the game, I told myself there was no way LSU would remain at the top of the polls... well, until I heard the news...

USC lost!!! ...and to Stanford!? Thank you! The one-point loss wasn't a drastic one, but it didn't need to be. I've questioned USC for years and am glad to see someone lay it to them. Ok, maybe that's a bit to strong, but that single point did cost them 8 spots, dropping them to #10. That's a game I should probably go back and watch. The huge upset wasn't enough to get Stanford ranked with their now 2-3 record, but they do have bragging rights for a year. Hopefully the team can keep it up to prove it wasn't a fluke. Nonetheless, I tip my hat to thee.

In what will be the biggest game for both teams thus-far into the season -- and arguably the most important non-championship game for both teams overall -- LSU will be meeting Auburn with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. Admittedly, last year had its ups and downs, but I'm hoping that LSU has pulled itself together enough for this game. I would've rathered seen another game or two before this one, but it'll be exciting nonetheless. Auburn really hasn't had such a hot start this year, if you ask me, but I honestly don't follow that many teams. All I really care about watching is LSU and occasionally checking out how the competition's doing. So far, LSU has let 2 field goals slip by and Auburn has allowed 2 touchdowns. The 2 touchdowns against Auburn were by Washington State, but as I mentioned, I don't know much (read: anything) about them, so I couldn't accurately compare them to LSU's games.

I think this year is going to be all about settling querterback problems for LSU. Last year caused a lot of problems because the team kept bouncing between QBs. I'm pretty sure we'll see some of the same thing this year, but my hopes are that it will be more structured. JaMarcus Russell seems to have a bit more experience than Matt Flynn, but I think Flynn has more potential. They're both juniors this year, so I'm not sure if Flynn will get the chance he needs to really prove himself beyond a doubt -- at least relative to Russell. Beyond these two, I can't forget to mention the new guy on the block: Ryan Perrilloux. I've heard some good stuff about this kid. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see his 2 plays against Louisiana-Lafayette (wasn't on national TV), but I'm sure he'll get another chance in the near future -- just maybe not the Auburn game.

The game this weekend will be a good one. As far as SEC goes, this is a pretty big deal. These two teams are pretty big in the SEC West and both have impressive historical stats. I think LSU has a bit more to prove with a few questionable games last year and the relatively new coach, but I have faith. We'll see how it goes on Saturday...