• By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 13, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Defending national champion LSU, having lost the division race to Alabama on Saturday, won’t be playing for a national or even conference crown anymore.

So now the focus shifts to which bowl the Tigers can land.

With LSU’s current standing — a No. 19 ranking in the national poll and a No. 20 ranking in the Bowl Championship Series standings — the Tigers (6-3) project to go to the Cotton Bowl, which will be played in Dallas on Jan. 2.

Whether that happens will depend on how the season plays out.

Per the Southeastern Conference’s bowl agreements, after the BCS bowls, the Sugar Bowl and Capital One Bowl land their teams, the Cotton Bowl has first choice of Western Division teams, while the Outback Bowl has first say on Eastern Division teams.

The SEC’s top three teams are No. 1 Alabama (No. 1 in BCS), No. 3 Florida (No. 4 in BCS) and No. 13 Georgia (No. 10 BCS).

Two of those teams should land in BCS bowls, which includes the Sugar Bowl. The third, presumably, would go to the Capital One Bowl.

That scenario leaves the Cotton Bowl, which pits an SEC team against a Big 12 team, as the top bowl for which LSU can aspire.

“Around here, we’ve got certain standards. Really, it’s BCS or bust,” running back Charles Scott said. “A few things didn’t fall our way, but it’s important we go to a decent bowl now. We’ve got a lot of pride around here. We’re not used to losing. It’s not something we do on the regular.”

Outside of the Sugar Bowl, which is the SEC’s traditional, signature bowl, the conference has agreements with eight bowls: Capital One, Outback, Cotton, Chick-Fil-A, Liberty, Music City, Independence and Papajohns.com.

Cotton Bowl President Rick Baker attended Saturday’s Alabama-LSU game.

Representatives from other bowls for which LSU remains a possibility — Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Capital One Bowl and the Outback Bowl — were also on hand.

LSU coach Les Miles said he would address the importance of getting the Tigers in the best bowl possible when he meets with the team tonight.