re: Will Petrino let it Rip or play it Conservative???

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There is a bunch of different ways to back up the claim that LSU has played a more difficult 2011 schedule than Arkansas, but we’ll try to stick to only a few of the most blaring.

First, ranked teams: LSU has played six vs. Arkansas four.

Secondly, opponents' winning percentages…the Tigers have played teams that have a 56 percent winning ratio, while the Hogs have played teams that have won 49 percent of their games.

Third, number of teams faced who have a winning record: LSU six, Arkansas four.

What’s really interesting is to throw out the two teams' common opponents and compare who’s left.

LSU has played Oregon from the Pac-12, an FCS team, West Virginia from the Big East, Kentucky and Florida from the SEC East and Western Kentucky from the Sun Belt.

Arkansas has played New Mexico from the Mountain West, an FCS team, Troy from the Sun Belt, Texas A&M from the Big 12 and then Vanderbilt and South Carolina from the SEC East.

The only edge for Arkansas at all in this comparison is the fact that they faced South Carolina, which is clearly the best team either squad faced from the East; otherwise, it’s all LSU.

The strength of opponents played is crucial to any discussion of comparative statistics because who you put the numbers up against is almost as important as the numbers themselves.

To illustrate, if you are the No. 1 ranked team in passing yards and you’ve played Middle Tennessee, North Texas and New Mexico State, then you may want to reconsider talking smack to the No. 17 ranked passing team who has earned their ranking against Alabama, Virginia Tech and Michigan State.

LSU has a clear advantage in terms of strength of schedule a fact, which makes its overall statistical resume shine even brighter.

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