The Osborn's in Texas: LSU - National Champions

Well that collage about says it all. The last couple of weeks have seemed like a whirlwind trying to keep up with all the coverage and analysis since the LSU victory two Mondays ago. Our 2nd national championship since 2003 and the first two-time BCS national champion. You might remember a post I made about this time last year (here) where I talked about what great shape our program was in. OK...multiply that a few times.

Watching the game was great. The girls and I piled up alongside my dad who flew in town for the weekend from Tuscaloosa. And when you see the picture below of him in his gametime uniform, you have to promise not to faint. Anyway, the five of us, plus Derek who basically was there since we texted approximately 324,845,989 times, had a great time once those first few minutes got behind us.

As for the season, I really am still at a loss for words on all of it. From the early season beat downs of Miss St and ACC champion Va Tech (yeah...42 points) to my near heart attack at Disney World watching the Florida game, to the other near heart attack during the last second Auburn touchdown, to the seeming death of our season----twice----in the Kentucky and Arkansas games. And lets not forget the Michigan ordeal and the crazy day of the SEC Championship. Just ridiculous. But for those who question who should be the real #1, keep a few of these facts in mind of these two-loss teams.

LSU (12-2) - Played and beat 5 top 15 teams. Played 10 bowl eligible teams and beat 8.

USC (11-2) - Played and beat 3 top 25 teams. Played 6 bowl eligible teams and beat 5.

UGA (11-2) - Played 4 top 20 teams and beat 3. Played 9 bowl eligible teams and beat 7.

Keep in mind too that we did this after losing four first round draft picks (Russell, Landry, Bowe, Davis). Indeed, it was a very memorable season and I will be spending WAY too much money in the next few weeks on stuff.

As for the look ahead, recruiting is once again going very well (not as good as last year but it is a down year in Louisiana this year - although look out for some surprises on big time out-of-state recruits over the next couple of weeks - we already picked up the #1 corner in the nation out of Florida). It also looks like another possible #1 overall draft pick (Dorsey) with another first rounder (Doucet) to boot. And the record of "The Hat" continues to amaze - 34-6 with 1 National Championship, 1 SEC Title, 2 SEC West Titles, and three blowout bowl wins. Not bad for three years of work. And yeah, this year he beat 5 different former National Championship head coaches. I think it may be time to give the man his due.

And the SEC West...just ridiculous now. Miles, Saban, Tuberville, Petrino, Nutt, and Croom. Jeez. Add in Spurrier, Meyer, Fulmer, and Richt from the East and you've got a who's who of head coaches. 12 teams and five of them (should be six - Tuberville) have won national championships. Like I said...ridiculous. There is a reason the crowd changed from chanting "LSU" in the 4th quarter to "SEC." The Pac-1 and Big 12 each have two National Champion coaches and we won't even start with the Big 10.

Alright, that is my end of the year soapbox moment (that is until I put up more pics from this weekends Championship celebration at Tiger Stadium - no we aren't going, but I'll find pics about it - and, of course, signing day). So here are some pictures from the game with some provided by Mr. John Allen.

Finally, I highly recommend going to this link to see a great slideshow complete with audio of highlights from the game.