LSU in SI.com

Stewart Mandel>COLLEGE FOOTBALL MAILBAG

 

Why Alabama, not Oklahoma could win title; LSU's surprising ranking

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Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/08/10/mailbag/index.html#ixzz1UehfjFga

 

Curtis Barthold, Danville, Calif writes:

Stewart, I'm a devout LSU Tiger fan living amidst the Pac-12 conference fans in Northern California. As much as I love the Tigers, can you explain to me how they can possibly justify their high preseason rankings given they have one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) schedules in football this year?

-- Curtis Barthold, Danville, Calif.

 

Stewart Mandel replies:

Knowing the way the voters think, it's no secret how the Tigers garnered such a lofty ranking. They went 11-2 last year while playing in the big, bad SEC; they won a January bowl game; and, like Alabama, LSU is a recent national-championship program that recruits well year in and year out. But is it asking too much of the pollsters to dig a little deeper?

 

This is a team that caught every imaginable break en route to 11 wins last season -- the last-second mulligan against Tennessee, the fake field goal that bounced just right against Florida, the remarkable Les Miles fourth-down reverse against Alabama. I know many feel Miles is immune from typical football karma, but generally speaking, teams that eke out so many close wins one year tend to go the other way the next.

 

For example, Iowa, which went 11-2 in 2009 with a slew of comebacks and last-second miracles, then, with mostly the same core of players, reverted to 8-5 last year with several last-minute losses.

 

Throw in a murderous early schedule (non-conference games against Oregon and at West Virginia, and a trip to pesky Mississippi State all in September) and the continual enigma that is quarterback Jordan Jefferson, and you've got all the ingredients for a textbook "flop" team. In fact I'm puzzled why the Tigers are 10 spots ahead of the same Arkansas team that both beat them head-to-head last season and earned a BCS berth. Mark it down here: The Razorbacks will finish at least 10 spots higher than LSU in the final poll.

 

 

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/08/10/mailbag/index.html#ixzz1UehIWDAP