LSU Hater I Am Not

Ohio State will beat Tigers, but not because Trev hates Les Miles' crew

Dec. 26, 2007

By Trev Alberts

Special to CSTV.com

	TREV ALBERTS Trev Alberts is a football analyst for CSTV and CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TREV's MAILBAG 2/20: Show Some Patience 1/23: Cutcliffe Can Be Successful At Duke 1/16: To Each His Own 1/10: Watching Different Games 1/2: Brennan's Sugar Performance Won't Hurt Him 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 12/19: Rodriguez Licking His Chops 12/12: Buckeyes Have A Chip 12/05: Missouri Got Hosed 11/28: Some Coaching Changes Ludicrous 11/21: Love Woodson's Poise 11/14: Dixon Can Be Contained, But Not Stopped 11/7: Pac-10 Far From Overrated 10/31: Appalachian State Loss An Afterthought 10/24: No Halves Off In College Football 10/17: Nebraska In Good Hands With The Doctor 10/10: Trojans Still A Player 10/03: Don't Hate On South Florida 09/26: Hangovers Part of The Game 09/19: Nebraska's Performance Disappointing 09/12: DeSean As Explosive As It Gets 09/05: Tebow Impressive In First Start 08/29: ACC QBs Better Than Advertised 08/24: McFadden Not Quite In Bush's Class 08/17: From Overrated To Underrated 08/10: Florida's Overrated 08/03: Spurrier's Got That Twinkle 07/27: Big East Deserves More Credit 07/20: Badgers Playing For Second, At Best 07/13: Gators Repeat? Not So Fast 07/06: Pac-10 Still Owned By USC 06/29: One Big's Better Than The Other 06/22: WAC Ain't All That 06/15: Text Messaging Ban Excessive 06/08: Fifth Year of Eligibility A Good Idea 05/25: Hot Seat Warming Up For Some Coaches 05/18: Big Ten Falling Behind SEC 05/11: 'Canes, Seminoles Have Ways To Go 05/07: Sleeping Dawgs 04/20: Look Out For South Florida 04/13: Boise's Johnson Has No Shot At '07 Heisman 03/30: The Best Atmosphere In College Football Belongs To... 03/23: Tough To Compare QBs With Different Styles 03/16: Top Coaches Need To Be Appreciated 03/9: Woodson Nation's Most Indispensable QB 03/2: Things Just Not The Same At Nebraska 02/23: Rodriguez Does Well With His Chips 02/16: Believe It Or Not, I Don't Have An FSU Agenda 02/09: Yes, I Do Know College Football 02/02: Of Course Huskers Make Adjustments 01/26: Coach Alberts In Lincoln? No Chance 01/19: Can't Begrudge Kids For Leaving Early 01/03: Saban Heads to Alabama 12/29: Some Coaching Changes Come As Surprise 12/22: Too Many Bowl Games Way of Life 12/15: Who Has The Best Talent In The Nation? 12/7: Who's The More Deserving National Title Participant? 12/1: Irish Don't Deserve BCS Bid 11/16: Ohio State the Better Team 11/9: Give the Big East Its Due 11/2: What's Wrong With D at USC? 10/26: Where Will Bowden Be in '07? 10/20: Who Belongs in the Top 20? FOOTBALL 1/8: In Surprise, Ohio State Beats Itself 1/6: Good Start Vital For Buckeyes 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 11/23: LSU Loss A Microcosm Of The Season 11/19: Give It Some Time 10/13: Give Kentucky All The Credit 10/7: USC Loss Sends Shockwaves 9/1: Michigan's Loss Nothing Short of Stunning 6/19: Hoeppner Did Things His Way 4/27: Unexpected Reigned In 1994 02/22: Combine Experience Can Be Eye Opening 02/08: Signing Day Observations 02/07: Walk Down Recruiting Memory Lane 11/17: Remebering Schembechler 9/5: One Week Is Just One Week 8/25: The Return Of Trev

You've got college football questions and CSTV football analyst Trev Alberts has answers and opinions. Each week Alberts will be answering questions and queries on the world of college football. So if you've got a question for Trev? Just ask him.

Trev why do you hate LSU? You can't say you don't either, going back to 03 I can't remember 1 time you picked LSU in a meaningful game. You picked UGA over LSU in the SECCG game in 03 that was a dumb pick. More recently you picked Auburn over LSU this year and Ohio State over LSU. There were many others but those stick out. You try to be as professional and unbiased but it doesn't fool anyone you hate LSU. Admit it. - Dale Grey

Dale, that's really an interesting take because if you would ask the Ohio State fans they would tell you I hate the Buckeyes.  

But this is what makes our sport so great that people are passionate and fanatical about their teams. But you have to be able to delineate between picking a team to win and corresponding that with me hating that team. Just because I picked Ohio State to beat LSU does not mean I hate LSU and Les Miles and the state of Louisiana. It has nothing to do with hate. It's trying to be objective and picking a team you think is going to win.

As you point out, my ability to do that previously was not very good. I failed in those picks. That doesn't mean I have a disdain for LSU. I have a great admiration for the university, the players, the coaching staff. Once again, after looking at the game, I think Ohio State is going to win for a number of reasons for which I've laid out and if you check back to Bowl Central in the coming weeks you'll see why.

I have nothing personal against LSU; I just don't think they'll beat Ohio State. And Dale, I would appreciate it if you would email me immediately if LSU beats Ohio State and I'll be the first to admit I was wrong once again.

Trev I see you picked Ohio State to beat LSU. I disagree! How much home-field advantage do you think LSU will have and what type of role will it play? - Hanley, Los Angeles

It's a good point. I think home field in ordinary circumstance is huge, but I think in bowl games, and especially national championship games, that home field is really lessened. Although you'll have fans of both teams there, remember this is the BCS Championship game. It's not at the level of a Super Bowl, but it does have a corporate feel to it. You have a lot of tickets sold to corporations and a lot of business and entreating taking place.

Ohio State fans are going to travel and there are plenty of tickets. Now if the LSU fans are so rabid that they're going to pay Ohio State fans five times face value or Buckeyes fans decide to stay home that'll be one thing. I don't think that will happen. I think it will be a neutral site played near LSU, but home field advantage either way is not going to be a factor.

You could point to the weather if that was a factor as potentially giving one team an advantage who was used to say the cold, or extreme heat. But these big games are played in an environment that on the surface at least, doesn't give a competitive advantage to either team. No one is going to have a competitive advantage because of fans or location.  

What is the ideal coaching candidate? NFL experience? up and coming assistant coach? What kind of coach would you hire? - Hank, Oregon 

Great question. I think what it comes down to is the unique situation that a current university finds itself in. The needs at Nebraska, for example, are different than the needs at Texas or USC.

I think it's completely unfair to use a broad brush and say that because one NFL assistant was successful all NFL assistants will be successful. Same thing for college coordinators.

For instance, Nebraska had a unique need in its coaching search. The offense wasn't an issue. They were a top 10 offense under Bill Callahan. But defensively they were atrocious. So it made sense for the timing to have somebody with a heavy defensive background that could help make a difference. Whatever the situation would be at school XYZ, and say they're having difficultly attracting any kind of talent and have an excellent coaching staff, but just can't get the recruits to go there - maybe they don't have an established history, not a lot of exposure, play in a tough part of the country - it would then make sense to go get a guy from the NFL who has a few championship rings to come in and bring some instant credibility.

There are so many former coordinators who have been superstars as coaches and there have been an equal number who have been abject failures. Some position coaches will always be position coaches. Just because you have an ability to coordinate an offense or defense doesn't mean you can automatically be a head coach.

I'm a proven track record kind of guy. I would prefer coach who fits with the personality of the team. But first and foremost you better be a man of character. You can't change that. You either have it or you don't. And if you're leading young men you better be a man of character.