LSU all but in as Rose Bowl choice

Make room for Louisiana State in the Rose Bowl. It is all but a done deal, according to Rose Bowl sources, barring an unforeseen shake-up in the Bowl Championship Series standings this weekend.

Thanks in part to an overwhelming campaign in which the school has already pre-sold more than 32,000 tickets, LSU has overtaken Notre Dame and emerged as the likely candidate to play either Michigan or USC in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl.

Rose Bowl Chief Executive Mitch Dorger denied a television report out of Baton Rouge, La., that LSU had already been tentatively invited.

“No decision has been made; no decision has been announced,” Dorger said.

The Rose Bowl can’t extend a bid to LSU until weekend games are played, and there is a scenario in which the Rose Bowl would not take LSU.

If USC loses to UCLA on Saturday, and Florida defeats Arkansas convincingly enough to move past Michigan for the No. 2 spot in the BCS standings, then Ohio State would play Florida for the national championship and USC would face Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

“It is a feasible alternative in my opinion,” Dorger said.

LSU will end up in the Rose Bowl in two more-likely scenarios:

One: USC beats UCLA and plays No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS title game on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

That would probably pit Michigan vs. LSU in the Rose Bowl. This pairing would also help the other BCS bowls by allowing the Sugar Bowl to match at-large Notre Dame against the Southeastern Conference champion, Florida or Arkansas.

Two: UCLA beats USC on Saturday, and Michigan retakes the No. 2 BCS position, setting up a rematch with Ohio State in the BCS title game. That would drop USC into the Rose Bowl in an all-but-certain matchup against LSU.

While an official announcement won’t come until final BCS standings are released Sunday, Dorger said LSU-to-the-Rose-Bowl scenarios are based on “very logical conclusions.”

He said “people in that part of the country believe they are the logical candidate. They have moved forward with that assumption in mind without official confirmation of any kind.”

Barring an upset in the BCS computers, LSU probably will be making its first Rose Bowl appearance.

It would mark the first appearance by a Southeastern Conference team since Alabama played USC in the 1946 game.

-- Chris Dufresne

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Dan LeFevour threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns and Damien Linson had 186 yards receiving to help Central Michigan (9-4) beat Ohio, 31-10, in the Mid-American Conference championship game at Detroit. The Bobcats are 9-4.

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Former Heisman winner Pat Sullivan will become the head coach at Samford. Sullivan was an assistant head coach at Alabama Birmingham.