[Mule]

Reasons the Tigers will win tonight:

1. Focus, In Les Miles first 2 yrs at LSU, he won his bowl games by a combined 81-17.

2. Explosiveness, LSU beat 2 bowl teams Mississippi State and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 93-7 in its first two games.

3. Health, healthy Tigers knocked starting quarterbacks out of the game in each of their first five contests.

4. Location, location, location. The Tigers haven't lost in the Dome in a decade.

5. Strength of Schedule, teams with the stronger strength of schedule nearly always win bowl games (LSU 14, OSU 39)

6. The SEC, the SEC is 6-2 so far in Bowls.

7. Reality, OSU is 0-8 against the SEC in Bowl games.

8. The Hat!

9. The best defense in the country. Some names to listen for tonite, Glen Dorsey, Tyson Jackson, Darry Beckwith, Ali Highsmith, Chevis Jackson, Jonathan Zenon and my personal favorite, Craig Steltz.

10. Too much power & speed on offense. If they're lucky, most teams have two effective running backs. LSU has five: Jacob Hester, Keiland Williams, Charles Scott, Richard Murphy and the small but incredibly fast Trindon Holliday. Hester is the man with over 1,017 yards and 11 TDs, and with the other four helped LSU average 219 yards on the ground. Hester has a heart the size of Secretariat's.