Chairman Boo Corrigan breaks down the separation between LSU and USC in CFP rankings

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•11/22/22

The latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings were revealed Tuesday night and there might be some old-school drama heating up between LSU and USC. CFP selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan addressed the separation between LSU and USC on Tuesday night.

LSU (9-2) checked in at No. 5 this week, while USC (10-1) was at No. 6.

“We talked a lot about it, is what I would say before anything else and made sure it wasn’t a single conversation,” Corrigan explained on a conference call following the CFP rankings reveal. “It came up over and over again to make sure. And there’s reasons for both teams. The committee, at the end of the day, saw the wins over Alabama and Mississippi stronger than the wins over UCLA and Oregon State. The one question we had was … the defense of USC.”

But would that hold if both teams were to win out?

That’s a question fans of both programs will be grappling with until the games play out. And there’s more than a little bad blood between the programs, at least from the LSU side of things.

LSU fans were wildly upset that USC laid claim to a shared national title in 2003, despite LSU beating Oklahoma in the BCS Championship Game that year. It’s a beef that lingers in Baton Rouge to this day.

Will separation between LSU and USC prove meaningful?

While it might end up a moot point down the road given that both LSU and USC have some tough games remaining, the ‘what if’ should they both win out becomes fascinating.

USC would be a one-loss Pac-12 champion, while LSU would be a two-loss SEC champion.

However, USC’s lone loss would be a one-point defeat on the road at Utah on a two-point conversion by the Utes. LSU has lost to Florida State on a missed extra point in the season opener (a reasonably close comparison), but the Tigers were also trounced at home by a now-two-loss Tennessee team.

Even with a win over unbeaten Georgia, would that separation between LSU and USC hold?

It’s a fascinating discussion. Whether it becomes anything more than that will be determined over the next two weeks.

LSU is set to travel to Texas A&M this weekend before the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, while USC will host No. 15 Notre Dame this weekend, then take on Oregon, Utah or Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game.