OUCH! That has to help West Virginia! Sure LSU will jump but it would be a joke if they leaped over West Virginia, especially if the Mountaineers finish off the season with a win over a Top 15 Rutgers squad.

Something else to consider. If West Virginia doesn't get leaped over by LSU, and Florida gets beat in the SEC or by Florida State and USC beats Notre Dame (or possibly vice versa) then West Virginia likely finishes the season ranked #4, which is an automatic berth in the BCS. So this weekend root for Florida State! If they beat Florida then there is a REALLY strong chance that if West Virginia runs the table they will finish 4th in the BCS.

It's getting interesting! I wouldn't count out Rutgers, & if Pitt can get into a shootout with Louisville, who knows what might happen. College football is great!!!!!

Brick City Pirate Wrote:It's getting interesting! I wouldn't count out Rutgers, & if Pitt can get into a shootout with Louisville, who knows what might happen. College football is great!!!!!

In order for the BE to get 2 teams in the bcs, we need for Louisville to win out, which includes beating Pitt.

CatsClaw Wrote:OUCH! That has to help West Virginia!

I think I have to disagree.

LSU now is sitting firm in the top-10 and is an attractive SEC team to get an at-large bid. It probably would have been better for Ark to give LSU their 3rd loss, and then have Florida beat Ark in the SEC Champ game.

LSU is now a good at-large candidate; I don

CardHouse Wrote:[quote="CatsClaw"]OUCH! That has to help West Virginia!

I think I have to disagree.

LSU now is sitting firm in the top-10 and is an attractive SEC team to get an at-large bid. It probably would have been better for Ark to give LSU their 3rd loss, and then have Florida beat Ark in the SEC Champ game.

LSU is now a good at-large candidate; I don

I have to agree with you Cardhouse. It would have been better for Arkansas to beat LSU today. Let's hope that Florida loses to F$U tomorrow, or that Arkansas beats Florida in the championship game.

I guess what I'm going for here is that LSU and the SEC might not look so attractive when its champion has at least two losses.

I can see one two-loss SEC team in a BCS game, which could very well happen if Florida stumbles against Florida State or Arkansas. But I can't see two, two-loss SEC teams in BCS games.

If Florida loses tomorrow or in the championship game, then yes, this game will be good for us because it will probably mean we finish #4 and get an automatic bid. If Florida does not lose, then it will be bad for us because LSU is probably more desirable than WVU to any BCS Bowl, especially the Sugar.

DIP WV Wrote:If Florida loses tomorrow or in the championship game, then yes, this game will be good for us because it will probably mean we finish #4 and get an automatic bid. If Florida does not lose, then it will be bad for us because LSU is probably more desirable than WVU to any BCS Bowl, especially the Sugar.

Good point, though West Virginia has a huge fanbase and is very marketable with Slaton and White. I don't think the Sugar Bowl realized what they had last year and didn't market it right. As a result ratings were low. The country knows what West Virginia is all about so it would be easier to market them. We need Florida State to upset Florida. FSU has plenty of incentive, I believe the Gators have beaten them the last 3 times they have played.

CardHouse Wrote:[quote="CatsClaw"]OUCH! That has to help West Virginia!

I think I have to disagree.

LSU now is sitting firm in the top-10 and is an attractive SEC team to get an at-large bid. It probably would have been better for Ark to give LSU their 3rd loss, and then have Florida beat Ark in the SEC Champ game.

LSU is now a good at-large candidate; I don

bitcruncher Wrote:[quote="CardHouse"][quote="CatsClaw"]OUCH! That has to help West Virginia!

I think I have to disagree.

LSU now is sitting firm in the top-10 and is an attractive SEC team to get an at-large bid. It probably would have been better for Ark to give LSU their 3rd loss, and then have Florida beat Ark in the SEC Champ game.

LSU is now a good at-large candidate; I don

bitcruncher Wrote:[quote="CardHouse"][quote="CatsClaw"]OUCH! That has to help West Virginia!

I think I have to disagree.

LSU now is sitting firm in the top-10 and is an attractive SEC team to get an at-large bid. It probably would have been better for Ark to give LSU their 3rd loss, and then have Florida beat Ark in the SEC Champ game.

LSU is now a good at-large candidate; I don

I may be wrong, but I believe that it is only the highest ranked team that is not a conference champion that gets an auto-bid if #4 or higher... thus, if Mich doesn't go to the NCG and is #3 they would get an auto, but WVU at #4 would not...

I think it's possible LSU would get picked ahead of WVU, but I don't think it's likely. Let's keep in mind that WVU would probably bring as many fans to any bowl game as LSU, and with the TV ratings the Big East has been getting this season, plus Slaton & White, I don't think this is a normal scenario where you might automatically go w/ the 2-loss SEC team.

Would a team that didn't even win their half of the league - didn't even make it to the title game - make a BCS bowl? Call me optimistic, but I just don't see it.

Concerns about a team not even winning their division sound reasonably, but I doubt they play into the decision at all.

I don't know if WVU pre-orders tickets by sending out bowl forms early, but I read tonight that LSU has already sold 15,000 tickets to the Orange and Rose. By sold, it basically means that the minute they got the invite to that bowl, they have 15,000 credit card numbers to charge for tickets from fans that have already chosen bowls off the list that was sent out that they signed up for.

UofL had not done that prior to this season. Last year V Tech did and had about 15,000 sold the next day in effect. Then the idiot Catlett from the Gator Bowl starts handing out quotes that would later be shoved back in his face when Tech only sold a few thousand more while UofL sold more than the Hokies. That number of locked in sales looks good to the bowls though.

CatsClaw Wrote:OUCH! That has to help West Virginia! Sure LSU will jump but it would be a joke if they leaped over West Virginia, especially if the Mountaineers finish off the season with a win over a Top 15 Rutgers squad.

Certainly wouldn't say SHOCKED...as LSU was a -1.5 pt favorite in that game.

KnightLight Wrote:

CatsClaw Wrote:OUCH! That has to help West Virginia! Sure LSU will jump but it would be a joke if they leaped over West Virginia, especially if the Mountaineers finish off the season with a win over a Top 15 Rutgers squad.

Certainly wouldn't say SHOCKED...as LSU was a -1.5 pt favorite in that game.

Well, that alone is shocking considering Arkansas was at home and the #5 team in the nation.

Mister Emu Wrote:I may be wrong, but I believe that it is only the highest ranked team that is not a conference champion that gets an auto-bid if #4 or higher... thus, if Mich doesn't go to the NCG and is #3 they would get an auto, but WVU at #4 would not...

No, I think you're right.

The ramifications of this result really suck for the Big East. Only an honorable sense of fair play, which bowl officials don't have, or a major public outcry, which will not happen, may be able to help justice win in this case. I will repeat some points raised in another post.

Arkansas losing to LSU was a horrible result for the Big East. If the Razorbacks had won, LSU would have 3 losses to knock them out of the picture, but now the Tigers are yet another at-large threat. The Big East might be screwed for a second BCS bid no matter what.

Even if Florida hands Arkansas their 3rd loss, LSU and Auburn are both sitting there with only 2 losses, and I do not trust Sugar Bowl officials one bit when they are surrounded by such temptation. The other issue is the Rose Bowl is also now allegedly interested in LSU.

Texas losing to Texas A&M was a very good thing because it eliminated them from the Big 12 title picture and also from the BCS at-large picture. Oklahoma, if they win today, will back into the Big 12 title game. The Big 12 threat is gone but the SEC gained another option.

So the big question is will the Rose Bowl, because they pick first, think a 10-2 LSU (or for that matter a 10-2 Auburn or 10-2 Florida if they beat FSU but lose the SEC title game) is more attractive than an 11-1, probably #4 ranked, West Virginia. They don't care about fair.

Many posters here must remember 2000. Virginia Tech had 1 loss, to Miami, and they had Michael Vick. The Fiesta Bowl had a chance to match M.V. against Joey Harrington in the BCS. What did they do? Reached all the way down for #12 Notre Dame. You know the rest.

goodknightfl Wrote:[quote="bitcruncher"][quote="CardHouse"][quote="CatsClaw"]OUCH! That has to help West Virginia!

I think I have to disagree.

LSU now is sitting firm in the top-10 and is an attractive SEC team to get an at-large bid. It probably would have been better for Ark to give LSU their 3rd loss, and then have Florida beat Ark in the SEC Champ game.

LSU is now a good at-large candidate; I don