FROM THE REAL ART SPORTS DESK
LSU takes top spot from USC
TEXAS PLUMMETS TO 19TH

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

LSU, which recovered from its own first-half malaise to beat Tulane 34-9 on Saturday, received 33 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,593 points. USC got 32 first-place votes, 11 fewer than last week, and 1,591 points.

LSU coach Les Miles suggested the voters didn't get up early enough to watch the first half of the Tigers' victory against Tulane, when they led 10-9 at the break.

"They kind of slept in and got kind of caught up on the score later in the day," he said Sunday. "We can't afford to play like that anymore for any length of time, whether it is a half or whatever. We played without the focus or intensity we are capable of."

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"We played without the focus or intensity we are capable of."

Indeed. But that may very well be why AP voters turned to LSU. USC beat a team they were supposed to beat, but only barely, and it came down to the wire. LSU, like USC, struggled against its unranked opponent but managed to pull it together and totally dominate during the second half. I'm speculating that this ability to re-focus and take care of business is what wooed the poll toward the Tigers.

Then again, I'm probably full of shit: Washington, despite its unranked status, is a much better team than Tulane. Who the fuck knows why these guys vote the way they do? At least they've got it right now. LSU is, and has been for weeks, the best college football team in the country.

Now bring on Florida.

Meanwhile, back in Austin, my undergraduate school's team drops to nineteenth. For me, that's a good thing. They probably are nineteenth best in the country, and it's a lot easier to watch them as underdogs, or scrappy contenders, whatever, than as the team that won the national championship only two years ago hoping for a repeat. As irrational as it may seem, they're much more forgivable now. And I think the pressure's off the Longhorns, as well. Now they can focus and play football. Stop partying so much. This loss to K-State may end up being quite a good thing.

And when they beat the Sooners and the Aggies, it'll be all the more sweet.

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