BATON ROUGE, La. — As huge and heavy as the trophy known as “The Boot” may be, Arkansas and LSU have much bigger things to play for when their annual Thanksgiving-week rivalry is renewed today.
This is arguably the biggest game to be played in venerable Tiger Stadium in more than half a century.
“This is a game that we really look forward to,” LSU coach Les Miles said, indicating in his own way that the contest between No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Arkansas could be even more important than the so-called “Game of the Century” that the Tigers won at Alabama this month.
“It is a game of significance unlike other similar games we have played this year,” Miles said. “Our guys are poised to play a game of significance and (for) an opportunity to achieve all the things they want to achieve.”
Death Valley hasn’t hosted a matchup of top-three teams since the famed Halloween night game between No. 1 LSU and third-ranked Mississippi in 1959, when Billy Cannon’s 89-yard punt return lifted the Tigers to a 7-3 victory.
This time, LSU (11-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) is looking to go 12-0 for the first time, and both teams are in the running for a bid to the BCS national championship game in New Orleans on Jan. 9. Arkansas’ only loss came at No. 2 Alabama in September.
“We’ve certainly improved a lot as a football team since the Alabama game,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. “We’re playing well right now, so we’ve got to carry it over.”
If the Tigers win, they’ll wrap up the SEC West and look forward to facing Georgia in the conference championship Dec. 3 in Atlanta, where a 13th victory would virtually assure LSU a chance to play for its third national title in nine seasons.
“This is probably the biggest game for us because this determines whether we go to the SEC championship,” LSU safety Brandon Taylor said. “The media hyped up the Alabama game a lot, but this is still a big game for us.”
If the Razorbacks, who are nearly two-touchdown underdogs, pull off the upset, things get a little more complicated — and a lot more appealing to those who take pleasure in the prospect of BCS chaos.
An Arkansas victory would leave as many as a half-dozen one-loss teams arguing that they belong in the national title discussion. At the same time, because Arkansas (10-1, 6-1) lost to Alabama, which in turn lost to LSU, all three could end up tied atop the SEC West with 7-1 league records. That is, if the heavily favored Crimson Tide beats Auburn in Saturday’s Iron Bowl.
In SEC divisional races, the next tiebreaker is highest BCS ranking. Theoretically, the computers still might keep LSU on top because its victories over Oregon and Alabama might trump what would be Arkansas’ most impressive win of the season.
