LSU is #2 in AP poll; Hawaii gets one first-place vote

Not that the AP poll matters for BCS purposes, but anyway, it's out.

LSU's margin is comfortable:

1. Ohio State (50) 1,578
2. LSU (11) 1,519
3. Oklahoma (1) 1,423
4. Georgia (1) 1,421
5. Virginia Tech (1) 1,380
6. USC 1,346
7. Missouri 1,195
8. Kansas 1,164
9. Florida 1,071
10. Hawaii (1) 1,050

According to Rich Tellshow's analysis, Virginia Tech will be #2 and LSU #3 in the computers, but with a projected difference of just 0.02 points in the BCS formula. That would mean the Tigers would need only 8 coaches and 16 Harris voters (or something in that neighborhood) to leapfrog them ahead of the Hokies. Given how far ahead LSU is over VT in the AP poll -- and given basic logic and common sense -- that seems quite likely.

But I'm still hoping against hope for LSU to be #3 in the BCS, somehow, so that they can win an AP championship but not a BCS championship, and sweet irony can reign supreme.

UPDATE: This sucks. It looks like the BCS is probably going to give us the result that most pundits wanted, as of last night. That doesn't mean "the system works" -- the system is still fatally flawed, structurally unable to produce a genuinely undisputed champion in a situation like this, or for that matter, any situation where there are more or less than two major-conference undefeated teams -- but some people will doubtless say "the system works!" when they see Ohio State #1 and LSU #2, if that indeed is how it works out. It would have been far better, for purposes of promoting chaos and discrediting the BCS, if Virginia Tech or Georgia were to sneak in at #2. I don't see that happening, though, unless the coaches or Harris voters do something totally out of left field. The pro-LSU consensus in the AP is significantly stronger than I expected, and implies that the coaches and Harris voters will probably see things the same way. Maybe they are a Borg collective consciousness, after all. :)

(And by "genuinely undisputed champion," I mean that just because the pundits and pollsters think Ohio State is #1 and LSU is #2, doesn't mean there aren't a half-dozen other teams and fan bases with extremely legitimate arguments that they belong in those spots.)

Comments

[DUP]

I can't say I'm displeased by this, because I'm not :) That being said...

It's no secret that the BCS is "fatally flawed," but the folks over at All-State, FedEx, Tostitos, et al. stand to lose a lot of money if the BCS ever goes away -- too much money to lose there, my friend. That's why the playoff system everyone's been screaming for won't happen.