LSU’s Saban Tells Players to Behave

Louisiana State received a police escort Sunday to the door of its hotel in the party city of New Orleans, and Coach Nick Saban quickly laid out a map to success in the Sugar Bowl -- staying out of trouble.

As with No. 3-ranked Oklahoma, which arrived Saturday, off-field concerns were on the minds of LSU coaches and players heading into the game next Sunday.

“We’ve been to some bowl games before, and I think most of the players on our team understand what it takes to focus on a bowl game, that there are a lot of distractions,” Saban said. “If you’re truly a champion, you can deal with clutter.”

Oklahoma already was getting ready for the bowl championship series title game, holding a 2 1/2-hour practice at Tulane. The session started about half an hour late because of heavy rain.

“It was very good, very physical,” Coach Bob Stoops said. “We scrimmaged a good part of it, and it went well. You want to get them playing hard and playing physical. You’ve got to get used to hitting and tackling and holding on to the football. So it was very positive.”

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Outspoken Florida State defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, in Miami for the Orange Bowl, said the Seminoles or the Hurricanes should be playing for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl.

His comments were a little surprising, because each team lost two games but earned BCS berths by winning their respective conference titles.

“I feel we can compete with any of the teams in the BCS: Michigan, USC or Oklahoma,” Dockett said. “By far, I think Florida State or Miami should be in the championship game.”