Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/21/2011 at 3:42pm

What kind of college football polling world do we live in now that a No. 3 Arkansas could win Friday at No. 1 LSU and still find itself looking up at both LSU and No. 2 Alabama when the next BCS poll came out? Mark Schlabach, author and ESPN.com columnist, agreed Monday that it doesn't make sense in the way we once viewed college football rankings, but we're in a new day. His fellow ESPN college football writer, Brad Edwards, said as much Sunday that Arkansas could be left out of the BCS mix.

Maybe a lot of the national pundits have possessed the same thought Schlabach admitted he felt a couple of weeks back when he said, "When did Arkansas become a BCS contender? When did I miss the memo?"

Well, guess what, guys? This isn't a No. 8 or 9 Arkansas going into Baton Rouge on Friday, or a 7-4 Arkansas like in 2007 that beat the No. 1 Tigers in triple overtime. Schlabach, who spoke Monday to the Little Rock Touchdown Club (and still has the Razorbacks projected for the Cotton Bowl online), admitted that everything about the BCS could be mixed next week even more than it's been after this past week's upsets. He's not ruling out the Razorbacks shaking it all up.

Arkansas became a contender when Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Oregon all lost over the weekend. Schlabach was in Ames, Iowa, to see Oklahoma State go down to Iowa State in two overtimes. And still, the Cowboys are rated No. 2 in four of the six computer polls used in the BCS calculations. "If Oklahoma State is No. 2, then Georgia is No. 4," Schlabach said.

LSU has a perfect 1.0 rating a top the BCS, leading in every poll — both the voting polls by the media and the coaches, as well as the computer rankings. The question now is just how much LSU would drop in all those calculations if it were by No. 3 Arkansas upset at home on Friday. In 2007, LSU still made the SEC Championship Game and won, and found its way back into the BCS title game picture, and won it all over Ohio State.

Georgia, which didn't win the SEC East that year because it had lost early in the season to Tennessee, but may have been the SEC's best overall team at season's end, played Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl and finished the year No. 3.

Before computers became part of determining the national champion, it would be cut and dried that Arkansas would move up at least to No. 2, LSU would fall, and perhaps Alabama would move to No. 1. If you're name was Notre Dame, you could beat the No. 1 and jump several spots to No. 1, as the Irish have done in their history.

Schlabach, who still forecasts LSU to play Alabama in the championship game poses this scenario: Arkansas beats LSU, Alabama plays Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and loses, and LSU and Alabama still play for the national championship and Georgia goes to the Sugar Bowl as the SEC's champion and automatic qualifier for a BCS bowl. He doesn't expect that to happen, he only speculated what might happen.

Arkansas, still ranked No. 3, goes to the Capital One Bowl?

Or, how about at Arkansas at No. 3 being left out of the BCS bowls while No. 15 Michigan, perhaps at at-large team from the Big Ten, gets a spot in the Sugar Bowl against Houston, perhaps?

It's a head-scratcher that Schlabach, who grew up outside South Bend, Ind., and attended Georgia before starting his journalism career at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, finds troubling about the system now.

"They're likely to make some changes to the BCS next summer," he said.

That may not be in time for Arkansas this year.

Of course, if Arkansas fails to pull off the upset of the season in Baton Rouge, none of this will matter. Maybe we should all worry about the fallout after this weekend.

Incidentally, a betting line that started at 14 points for LSU has dropped to 12.5 already, we're told. Apparently a lot of people have already thought two touchdowns between the two might be a bit much. Alabama, meanwhile, is a 21-point favorite to win the Iron Bowl in Auburn. "This Auburn team might be the worst one they've had in 10 years," said Schlabach, who covered the SEC out of Atlanta before moving to ESPN.com. He still resides in Georgia, but is on the road throughout the season. He'll get this weekend off, however, he said, and watch what all transpires in TV.

STILL THERE'S LES AT LSU: Schlabach, in saying that LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in the country, had high praise for Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson as being tops in the SEC. Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen, one of three coaches to face the top three in the SEC West this year, concurred. Tennessee's Derek Dooley and Ole Miss' Houston Nutt didn't want to go on the record comparing the teams, Schlabach said.

The ESPN.com writer said that while LSU has the fastest defense around and has the most team speed, "All that being said, Les Miles is still coaching LSU." And that drew a huge laugh in the room of Touchdown Club members.

Then, seriously, Schlabach said of Miles, "I love the guy ... It might be that Les Miles is a geniius and we're just now figuring that out. If LSU beats Arkansas, it's got to be the greatest SEC team. They'll be undefeated and would have beaten four teams ranked in the top four of the BCS ... They lost a starting offensive lineman who hasn't played a game, their quarterback was suspended, they had to suspend four players for synthetic marijuana, they have other quarterback issues now."

The message is: Miles has pulled off quite a feat. Maybe it's time to give him credit for being a pretty good coach, as well as a good guy.

Schlabach recalled a trip to Baton Rouge to interview Miles in which the coach "gave me an hour and a half of his time. There's not many coaches who would have done that."

AND ON BOBBY: Schlabach, on Arkansas' coach: "I said when he was hired that Bobby Petrino would make Arkansas a contender for the national championship in three years. And hey, I'm from Atlanta and not many people there like the guy."

BEEN THERE: Much talk and reflection among Touchdown Club hosts David Bazzel and Rex Nelson and prayer leader Gary Underwood were over Garrett Uekman's untimely death Sunday in a University of Arkansas dormintory less than 24 hours after he'd been a part of the Hogs' 44-17 win over Mississippi State in Little Rock.

ESPN's Schlabach said he was encamped with the University of Miami's football team five years ago when Bryan Pata was murdered during the season. Pata was gunned down in broad daylight outside his apartment as the season was winding down; five years later, no one has been arrested in the case.

"It's one of the worse things that can happen," said Schlabach, who had seen the reports the past 24 hours of the Little Rock native's sudden passing, the cause of which hasn't been determined. "It's always said to see [a dream] end that way."

As for how Arkansas' players might react through the week and at LSU on Friday, Schlabach said, "Kids are very resilient at age 18 to 21."

Tagged: Dan Mullen, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers, Southeastern Conference, Les Miles, Little Rock Touchdown Club, Bobby Petrino, Mark Schlabach