LSU Bowl Projections

With LSU sitting pretty at 8-2 and only two games remaining on the schedule, it's time to check out where the Tigers are projected to be playing in the bowl season.

If LSU wins out and finishes at 10-2, they'll most certainly land in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. This would be a nice spot and a good reward for a 10 win season with the Capital One being just a notch below a BCS berth. LSU last played in the Capital One Bowl in 2005, when they lost on a last second play to Iowa in Nick Saban's last game with the Tigers. Most projects have LSU playing here against Penn State, but a rematch with Iowa is also possible.

The other likely possibility for LSU (and it becomes more likely with a loss to Ole Miss or Arkansas) is the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Some projections have the Tigers playing there against either Nebraska or Oklahoma State. Both would be good games story-line wise as Nebraska is coached by former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and of course, Les Miles left Oklahoma State to come to LSU. LSU's last trip to the Cotton Bowl was a 2003 loss to Texas.

Another bowl possibility experts project for LSU is a trip to Tampa for the Outback Bowl to face Wisconsin. LSU's last trip to a bowl game in Tampa was the 1989 Holiday Bowl (now the Outback Bowl). The Tigers lost that game to Syracuse. So basically, in the three projected spots for the Tigers, LSU lost in their last trip to those games.

Here's a look at who's projecting the Tigers to play in these bowls:

ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach:
Outback: LSU vs. Wisconsin

ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman:
Cotton: LSU vs. Nebraska

SI.com's Stewart Mandel:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

CBS Sportsline:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

Fox Sports:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

College Football News:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

Football-Bowl.com:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

Rivals:
Cotton: LSU vs. Oklahoma State

The Rivalry Esq.:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

NBC Sports:
Capital One: LSU vs. Penn State

Sporting News:
Outback: LSU vs. Wisconsin

Lost Rewatch: Week 24

The Lost Rewatch continues to move toward the final season of Lost this week. There's a break built into the Rewatch schedule next week for the Thanksgiving holiday (the schedule actually list this week as Thanksgiving, but we'll take the break next week), so if you're behind on episodes (like me) this could be an opportunity to do some catching up. Now onto this week's batch from season 5:

The Little Prince (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashforward focuses on the Oceanic 6, mostly Kate dealing with the lawyer (Ben's lawyer) who's out to prove that Aaron's not her son.
  
• Some questions: Who is after the Losties and keeps attacking them (mainly Sayid) and why did Sayid's attacker have Kate's address? Who sent Sun the box of chocolates and gun?
• Who were the Other Others, who fired at the group when they were in the canoes? Juliette appears to have hit one of them. Speculation was that they were Ilana's group, but we haven't had any conformation of that yet.
  
• Canton-Rainer carpet cleaning is an anagram for reincarnation.
  

This Place is Death (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashforward focuses on the Oceanic 6 and Ben trying to convince them to go back to the island. Sun, Jack and Ben go to Eloise Hawking's church and Desmond is there to talk to Faraday's mother (Hawking).
• Why did the Smoke Monster attack Danielle's team? What power does it have over people? Danielle called it the sickness.
  
• Why does Charlotte say that "this place is death?" She had spent her entire life trying to get back to the island, what makes her say this (besides, you know, her being about to die and all). How does she knows so much about the island just before she dies?
• Since Charlotte remembers Daniel from her past, does that mean that all those encountered during the jumps would remember the Losties? (Like Ethan having met Locke or Danielle with Jin?)
• How exactly does a frozen donkey wheel get knocked off its barrings? Did this happen because Ben turned it and not Locke, as originally instructed? Christian Sheppard shows up in the donkey wheel cave to give Locke further instructions. So is/has Christian always been Jacob's enemy (aka the man in black)? Why couldn't he help Locke up? Is he not allowed to touch the living?
  

Doctor Who: The End of Time

Here's the trailer for David Tennant's last episode as the Doctor:

Saints at Rams

The 8-0 Saints travel to St. Louis this weekend to take on the 1-7 Rams. On paper, this game should be ugly and one sided, but in the NFL, anything can happen.

The Saints are riding high, but the past few weeks, they've flirted with disaster. They've gotten behind in games early and turnovers have started to pile up. A game against a team like the Rams could be just what the doctor ordered to get back on track, but the Saints shouldn't take them lightly.

Steven Jackson is one of the top running backs in the league, and teams have shown that this Saints defense can be run on. The Saints coaches will make it an emphasis to stop the run and Jackson will be a good test. The Saints should be able to move the ball on St. Louis, just as they have against everyone they've faced this year.

Many fans and national media are already penciling in the 10-0 Saints to take on New England on Monday night in a couple of weeks. The team better not be drinking that Kool-Aid and should be ready to play no matter the opponent's record. A loss against either the Rams or the Bucs next week would be extra costly, since it would be against a NFC foe.

There's one man that will make sure this team isn't in for a let down and that's Drew Brees. Brees is a man on a mission and that mission is the Super Bowl. He won't let his teammates get complacent and will have them ready to go.

Prediction:
Saints 42
Rams 13

LSU vs. Louisiana Tech

vs.

After a tough loss on the road last week at Alabama, LSU is back in Tiger Stadium for a Homecoming match up with Louisiana Tech. This should be a tune-up game for the Tigers heading into their last two SEC match ups of the season, but Tech has shown to be a pesky team that gave Boise State everything it could handle in their last game.

LSU will be without a few key players, most notably RB Charles Scott, who's out for the season, and quarterback Jordan Jefferson. Jarrett Lee will get the start at QB and will be looking to show the hometown fans that he's a much better QB than he showed last year.

Last week's game is still on the minds of fans around Tigertown, but hopefully the team has moved on and is prepared to finished out the regular season on a high note. That will start with a good showing against the Bulldogs.

Prediction:
LSU 38
LA Tech 13

Byron Scott out as Hornets Coach

Byron Scott has been relieved of his coaching duties of the New Orleans Hornets after a 3-6 start to the season. He'll be replaced by GM Jeff Bower and assistant coach Tim Floyd.

I'm not sure what this means, but if your GM is taking over as head coach, it usually means your team is in trouble. Many fans are yelling the name Avery Johnson for next head coach and that may very well be the case ... but most likely next year.

With the mess that the Hornets are currently faced with -- bad start to the season, over the salary cap, no bench or starting quality shooting guards -- you have to wonder how long Chris Paul will give the Hornets before demanding to be traded to a contender. Paul is a team first type of guy, but if the team's a mess, how long will he wait?