| Les Miles: LSU still undefeated - in regulation |
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Talk about a blue Monday. LSU, No. 1 in both the Bowl Championship Series and Associated Press polls a week ago, was out of the BCS title picture and had dropped to No. 5 in the rankings following Friday's 50-48 triple-overtime loss to Arkansas. It was not a subject coach Les Miles wanted to dwell on. ``I like to talk about what we are and not what we lost,'' Miles said. ``I look at a team that hasn't lost a game in regulation. There has not been a team that has beaten us in 60 minutes.'' Entering Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game against 14th-ranked Tennessee in Atlanta, the Tigers are 10-2. Both defeats came in triple overtime; Kentucky beat LSU 43-37 in October. ``This type of overtime is just as flawed as any,'' Miles said. ``The way we have to decide the game, it takes out the length of the field. This overtime system is imperfect, but a darned good system.'' Miles acknowledged it took him a while to get over Friday's defeat at the hands of the Razorbacks. ``I didn't have a great Friday,'' Miles said. ``On Saturday, I didn't spit the bit real quick. Then, I looked at all those other nationally ranked teams Saturday. It helped me watching those teams. I looked at who they played and who they lost to. It helped me a lot.'' LSU would need upsets of top-ranked Missouri and second-ranked West Virginia to have a chance to get back into the BCS championship game picture. Missouri plays Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game and West Virginia hosts Pittsburgh. ``I'm a pretty optimistic guy,'' Miles said. ``I don't do too much figuring out (which teams have to lose). I only work on what I can control. We still have an opportunity, but it may not be the kind of odds I'd bet my house on.'' Miles is content to be playing Tennessee for the SEC title. He took his first LSU team to the league championship game in 2006, where the Tigers were beaten 34-14 by Georgia. ``We are right where I want to be, playing for (the SEC) title,'' Miles said. ``Only two (SEC) teams are practicing this week to play for a conference championship. I'm thrilled to be one of them.'' Miles emphasized LSU is the only BCS team which has not lost a game in regulation this season. ``If we had ties like the old system, we'd be unbeaten with two ties,'' Miles said. ``Maybe, that comes out to one loss.'' |
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