At the beginning of the 2007 season, LSU coach Les Miles told all who would listen which conference he felt was the best in college football.
No, it wasn’t the Big Ten, with traditional powerhouses Ohio State and Michigan. As the little-known Mountaineers of Appalachian State proved, the Big Ten isn’t quite what it used to be.
It wasn’t the Pac-10, with the dominant Pete Carroll-led USC teams of the past decade (as much as it pains me to admit that), the consistently competitive Oregon and our beloved Bruins.
According to Miles, the best conference in the country was none other than the Southeastern Conference.
And after watching last night’s Bowl Series Championship game between the LSU Tigers and the Ohio State Buckeyes, who can argue with Miles?
No. 2 LSU dominated No. 1 Ohio State for the majority of the game, defeating the Buckeyes 38-24 to win its third football national championship and improving to 4-0 all-time in bowl games played at the Superdome.
Here are a few statistics exemplifying how much LSU controlled the game:
1. LSU, the most penalized team in the SEC, was penalized only four times for a total of 35 yards. On the other side of the field, Ohio State was penalized six times for a total 78 yards, two of which proved to be very costly.
Leading 24-10 at the start of the third quarter, LSU was stopped on third down and was forced to punt. Yet, on the punt, Ohio State’s Austin Spitler ran into Tigers punter Patrick Fisher, giving LSU the ball near midfield.
Frustrated, Ohio State’s Cameron Heyward was penalized 15 yards on the next play for a personal foul. Three plays later, LSU quarterback Matt Flynn hit wide receiver Early Doucet for a 4-yard touchdown pass, putting LSU up 31-10 and demoralizing the Ohio State players and fans.
2. LSU was 11 for 18 on third down conversions, and 1 for 1 on fourth down.
3. The Tigers managed the game clock and controlled the time of possession, 33:56 to Ohio State’s 26:04.
In case you still don’t agree with Miles’ assessment, all you have to do is ask Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. He should know better than anyone outside of the conference just how good the SEC is.
His Buckeyes, ranked No. 1, lost in last season’s BCS title game to No. 2 Florida 41-14.
Oh, and following last night’s loss, Ohio State is 0-9 all-time in bowl games against the SEC.
It wasn’t the game that many Americans, especially those who argue for the demolition of the BCS in favor of a more traditional playoff format, wanted.
That would have been Georgia against USC.
Yet it was the game that most accurately reflected the 2007 college football season. This year will go down in college football lore as the year of the upsets.
If that sounds cliche, I’m sorry. But it’s true.
Appalachian State over Michigan. Stanford over USC. Kansas and Arkansas over LSU. Illinois over Ohio State.
Hey, we even experienced both ends of the upset spectrum. From bitter disappointment (Notre Dame) to triumphant joy (Cal).
And can it be more fitting than LSU and Ohio State in the BCS national championship game? On Dec. 1 the Tigers were No. 7. The next day, they were No. 2.
Ohio State made a similar jump, from No. 7 to No. 1 in three weeks.
The two teams that played in New Orleans last night were there because of extraordinary circumstances: a perfect reflection of a crazy season.
And so the 2007 college football season comes to an end, with the LSU Tigers of the SEC the newly crowned champions of Division I football, becoming the only two-loss team in history to win the BCS national championship.
How perfect.
If you think that the reason Jim Tressel failed to win the last two BCS title games is because of that absurd sweater vest, e-mail Howard at ahoward@media.ucla.edu.