Rosetta: Talk around water cooler picking up

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 8, 2009 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 11:48 a.m.

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Spend much time in a sports department of any newspaper and you’ll realize that it’s just like any other group when it gets around a water cooler.

We all think we know a lot of the answers when it comes to sports – especially those we cover closely – because we’re a little closer to the fire.

In reality we don’t know that much more (if any) than those of you in the real world, so our debates are just as spirited as anywhere else. Maybe with a little more bluster and better punctuation, but you get the idea.

So in our little world, just like most places, this week has inspired plenty of debate and discussion with the LSU-Florida game as the backdrop.

One topic that stirred up plenty of back-and-forth: Is LSU a national championship contender right now or is that still to be determined?

My answer? Not yet, but the opportunity is right there for the Tigers to seize.

And this is the week when LSU should seize the moment.

Mathematically, yes, it’s safe to say LSU is in the hunt.

The Tigers are perched in the No. 4 spot in the national rankings and stand at or near the top of most of the computer rankings that help shape the matchup for the BCS National Championship Game. At BCSguru.com, the Tigers are No. 2 on that site’s projected rankings.

Three road wins, two in the SEC are apparently more impressive to computers that process information objectively and don’t bother with, you know, actually watching how a team plays.

Until now, LSU just hasn’t generated anything close to the same buzz of this season’s big three. Florida, Texas and Alabama have pretty much cornered the market as national championship contenders since the season began and none of those three have done anything to indicate they don’t warrant remaining in the discussion.

Meanwhile, teams below those three have staggered and dropped out of contention, with four top-five teams losing in the first four weeks of the 2009 season – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Penn State.

Nationally, the media has criticized – borderline mocked – the Tigers for having the audacity to climb up to No. 4 in the polls. Were they supposed to decline the chance or something? All they’ve done is win against the five teams lined up in front of them. Not much more you can ask.