LSU Tops USA Today Poll

MCLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- Louisiana State won the BCS National Championship game on Monday night and tops the final USA Today Coaches' Poll. The Tigers (12-2) beat Ohio State, 38-24, on Monday night at the Louisiana Superdome to win the BCS title for the second time in five years. LSU, which ended the regular season ranked No. 2, earned all 60 first-place votes and 1,500 points. The Tigers beat Oklahoma, 21-14, on January 4, 2004 in the Sugar Bowl to win their first BCS title. That year Southern California ended the season ranked first in both polls but was inexplicably shut out of the title game.

This time around, the Trojans again rolled to a Rose Bowl victory but will have to settle for being No. 2. One of, if not the hottest team in the country right now, USC (11-2) jumped four spots to second with 1,380 points. The Trojans capped their campaign with a 49-17 victory over Illinois in the Rose Bowl to reach 11 wins for an unprecedented sixth straight season.

Another surging team that felt it deserved a shot at the national championship, Georgia (11-2), finished third with 1,370 points. The Bulldogs did not get a shot at LSU in the Southeastern Conference title game, as they lost the SEC East in a tiebreaker to Tennessee, and saw their chance at a spot in the title game disappear despite the fact that the top two teams in the BCS standings lost on the final day of the regular season.

Ohio State (11-2) dropped three spots to fourth after losing to an SEC team in the BCS title game for the second straight season. Missouri (12-2) rounded out the top five and would have had a shot at the national title if it only could have beaten Oklahoma. Both of the Tigers' losses this season were to the Sooners, including in the Big 12 Conference championship game.

Fiesta Bowl champion West Virginia (11-2) finished sixth followed by Kansas (12-1). The Jayhawks defeated Virginia Tech in the Orange bowl and are the highest ranked one-loss team in the poll. Oklahoma (11-3), Virginia Tech (11-3) and Texas (10-3) complete the top 10.

Boston College (11-3) starts the second 10, followed by Tennessee (10-4) and Arizona State (10-3). Auburn (9-4) and Brigham Young (11-2) finished tied for 14th. Florida (9-4), Hawaii (12-1), Illinois (9-4), Michigan (9-4) and Cincinnati (10-3) round out the top 20. Wisconsin (9-4), Clemson (9-4), Texas Tech (9-4), Oregon (9-4) and Penn State (9-4) complete the poll. Virginia (9-4), Boise State (10-3), Arkansas (8-5) and South Florida (9-4) dropped out of the poll after bowl losses.