LSU takes top seed in College Football Playoffs
Published 7:00 pm Monday, December 9, 2019
ATLANTA — When he departed this city Saturday night, LSU’s Ed Orgeron warned again that “We’re coming!”
He might have added that “We’re coming back!”
The Tigers got more good news Sunday when they were elevated to the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoffs and learned they will play No. 4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl at the same Mercedes-Benz Stadium where they won the SEC championship Saturday with a convincing 37-10 victory over Georgia.
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“Obviously it’s an accomplishment,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said while out recruiting Sunday. “But it is not the final destination.”
The Peach Bowl, the first of two CFP semifinals on Dec. 28 kicks off at 3 p.m., on ESPN with the winner advancing to the national championship game on Jan. 6 in New Orleans.
The Tigers (13-0), who went into the SEC championship ranked No. 2, edged ahead of Ohio State (13-0) for the No. 1 spot. The Buckeyes will play No. 3 Clemson (13-0) in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
The Peach Bowl will feature the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses in the NCAA with the Tigers edging the Sooners 554.3 yards per game to 554.2 for OU.
“We’re seriously considering opening the roof at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the fireworks we’re likely to see in this game,” said Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan.
Maybe. LSU is an early 12-point favorite and the over-under line (total points scored) was set at 76.5.
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But it was more LSU’s defense that has it headed back to Atlanta, where they are the Peach Bowl’s all-time leading
The four playoff participants were no surprise after the results of the weekend’s championship games were final.
The only question was who would be No. 1, especially since it meant dodging defending champion Clemson, which seemed locked in as the No. 3 seed.
“It was a similar debate that we’ve had every week,” said Oregon State athletic director Rob Mullens, the chairman of the selection committee. “These teams were extremely close. The key element the last two weeks was we saw an LSU defense healthy and playing better.”
The Tigers bounced back to give up just 17 points in the their final two games, including the 37-10 over a Georgia team that was the committees No. 4 seed before the loss.
Mullens noted that LSU had four wins against teams that finished in the top 13 of the final rankings, while Ohio State had five in the top 21.
“It worked out in our favor,” said Orgeron who said before leaving Atlanta that the Tigers were ready to play anybody anywhere. “That’s just the way the ball bounces.”
“Do I feel we should have been the 1 seed?” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said on ESPN. “Yeah. But LSU’s done an unbelievable job and what Joe (Burrow) has done … at the end of the day, you have to go beat the best to win a national championship, and Clemson certainly is that.”
“It was really close,” Mullens said. “This week we just felt that LSU deserved that No. 1 seed.”
Oklahoma was LSU’s biggest fan after beating Baylor in the Big 12 championship game. A Georgia win over LSU would likely have given the SEC two spots and left the Sooners on the outside looking in.
“That conference championship and a second win over Baylor moved them into that No. 4 spot,” Mullens said.
The CFP field has a good historical vibe for the Tigers.
The Tigers have won three national championships, with the clinching games coming against the three other teams in the CFP — Clemson (1958), Oklahoma (2003) and Ohio State (2007). All three games were in New Orleans.
LSU is also the Peach Bowl’s all-time winningest team, with a 5-1 record including the innaugural game in 1968.
LSU was 9-2 in the old Georgia Dome in Atlanta and is now 1-0 in the futuristic Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“We loved it,” Orgeron said. “What a great stadium. For me, it will help your team (to have played in it). It doesn’t make you win the game, but it’s good that you’re familiar with it, the guys know the surroundings.
We’re fortunate we can go back to Atlanta because we feel it’s close and we’ll have a lot of fans there. It worked out in our favor.”
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron takes the field with his team.
