Rebels Are The Right Team For Cotton Bowl

   Even though Ole Miss roughed up LSU a week ago, you had to wonder if the SEC was sending its most qualified available team to the Cotton Bowl. Even in decline, the Tigers seemed more Dallas-ready than the Rebels.

   Never mind. With Ole Miss mauling Mississippi State on Friday, followed by the Tigers' collapse at Arkansas, it's clear that the Rebels are headed to the proper post-season destination. And LSU should be headed to a bottom-feeder bowl.

   LSU lost its last four league games. The only wins during that stretch were against Tulane and Troy, the latter a comeback from a 31-3 deficit.

   Quarterback problems haunted LSU all season, but this one falls on the defense. The Razorbacks' QB brotherhood of Nathan and Casey Dick rang up 31 points on the Tigers' defense.

   Anybody for Houston Nutt as coach of the year?

   What does that make Les Miles -- bust of the year?

Alabama-LSU: Tighter Than A . . .

I want to pick LSU over Alabama. I really do. Sometimes, you can just smell an upset coming. Let's see if my nostrils are deceiving me.
1. Tigers fans, notoriously intimidating under normal circumstances, will unleash flat-out hatred for Bama coach Nick Saban. )Which I don't get. The guy delivered a national title to Bayou country.) The Crimson Tide are unbeaten on the road. (Not to mention at home.)
2. LSU has the No. 1 rusher in the SEC, based on yards per carry: Charles Scott (6.7). The Crimson Tide has the next best: Glen Coffee (6.6).
3. LSU ranks third in the SEC in rushing defense. Bama's offensive line averages 308 pounds per man and creates holes that an elephant could burst through.
4. LSU has allowed 50 points in two of its games. No. 1-ranked teams are 2-2 the past four weeks.
5. Tigers premier linebacker Darry Beckwith is back from injury. The Tide's ferocious nose tackle, Terrance Cody, is expected back from injury.
For each point, there is a counter-point. I think the difference will be (a.) Bama's cool quarterback, John Parker Wilson, and LSU redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee, who has thrown five picks returned for touchdowns, and (b.) Nick Saban somehow outfoxing the estimable Les Miles with a team relying on only nine scholarship seniors.
Bama by a touchdown.

LSU to Media: Keep Out!

   Les Miles closed LSU practices to reporters this week, surely to conceal the physical condition of concussed quarterback Andrew Hatch. Not that any subterfuge should be needed against Mississippi State, but the Tigers have juggled Hatch and Jarrett Lee at the position and they'd like to keep the Bulldogs guessing on which one.

   Look for Lee, who rallied LSU over Auburn, to start, with Hatch in relief if the cobwebs have cleared.

   Bayou Bengal fans: Should Miles stick with a two-QB system, or choose one for full-time duty?