LSU fans have seen a lot this season, the least of which includes the most wins in school history (12), the nation’s top-rated scoring defense (10.8 points/game) and the school’s highest ranking (No. 2) since 1959 &045; the year after its one and only national championship.

But something they never experienced for in 2003 was standing above the college football elite at No. 1.

Just a student in Baton Rouge in 1958, Waterproof’s Buddy Miller remembers what it was like to walk into almost every home game and watch the Tigers, the country’s resounding No. 1.

&uot;The excitement that went with that was awesome,&uot; said Miller, who owns Plantation Pecan Co. &uot;We’re coming from great odds to be at No. 2. Nobody expected it.&uot;

Unfortunately, even if No. 2 LSU &045; more than a touchdown underdog &045; pulls of the upset of No. 3 Oklahoma in the Nokia Sugar Bowl BCS National Championship game tonight, it’s already known that the Tigers will not be a consensus No. 1.

Their hard work and dedication will be awarded in the coaches’ poll, which has a binding agreement with the BCS to vote the winner of the national championship game No. 1.

However, the majority of the sportswriters in America have been very forward in saying USC is their top dog for the Associated Press rankings after the Trojans convincingly handled Michigan in the Rose Bowl Thursday.

This means two teams &045; USC and Oklahoma or USC and LSU &045; will share the national title.

It’s nothing new for my colleagues in the liberal media to make grandiose statements like this.

My problem comes into the equation when speculating the outcome of tonight’s contest in New Orleans, which to everyone’s surprise has not been Shermanized … yet.

What if either team blows the other out. How can you sleep at night voting USC &045; which defeated a team with two losses and a team whose conference is a meager 3 and 5 in bowl games this season &045; No. 1 without taking a second to consider the Sooners or Tigers, which compete in the nation’s two most difficult leagues each year.

Back in ’58, when Miller was in school, the BCS wasn’t around and there was never any doubt who the best team in the country was after the Tigers went undefeated with 11 wins, the only time any LSU team won that many games until this season.

&uot;I went to a lot of home games and by midway through the season it got to be a problem for students to get a seat,&uot; Miller said. &uot;You’d have to go early. Back them everybody would get dressed up. Guys wore a coat and tie and the girls were in heels and dresses.&uot;

Four Miss-Lou boys got a ring from that season, three of whom came from Ferriday, La. Max Fluger and Manson Nelson, who played alongside one another in high school with some storied Ferriday High teams, never missed a beat for head coach Paul Dietzel’s bunch.

Fluger made four big goal-line stops on one possession in the 14-0 victory over Ole Miss and earned national defensive player of the week honors for his efforts.

Donnie Daye, the father of former Ferriday and current Nicholls State head coach Daryl Daye, was just a freshman but played fullback, while Sicily Island’s Al Dampier &uot;was the toughest guy I’ve ever played in front of in high school,&uot; Miller said.

Those were the days of Dietzel’s three-platoon system, which consisted of the White Team (the best all-around players), the Go Team (the second string offense) and those lovable Chinese Bandits (&uot;They thought they were the hot ticket. It was a lot of fun to witness,&uot; Miller said).

&uot;Dietzel wasn’t a great coach, but a great psychologist,&uot; Miller said. &uot;He hired some great assistants like Charlie McClendon. Everybody played over their head that year.&uot;

Contrarily, Miller believes this year’s edition of the Tigers is seeping with talent and they’ve got a coach in Nick Saban, who is control of them at all times.

&uot;Saban has put together a real quality group of players,&uot; he said. &uot;He’s gotten rid of a lot of problems. I don’t care how good of an athlete you are, if you don’t have the personal, moral values, you’re not gonna have a successful program.&uot;

Moral values? Apparently that’s an oxymoron for sportswriters.

Chuck Corder

is a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3633 or by e-mail at

chuck.corder@natchezdemocrat.com.