ESPN has released its conference-by-conference previews for the 2023 college football season, and its clear that the Worldwide Leader’s staff is very high on the Tigers.
While ESPN’s staff did pick the Georgia Bulldogs to repeat as SEC Champions, LSU is expected to improve upon its finish from a year ago with an 11-1 finish. That’s good for a projected first-place finish in the West Division.
Repeating as West champions will likely require another upset over Alabama, this time in Tuscaloosa, but that’s exactly what ESPN expects to happen as the Tigers look to stun the Tide two years in a row.
It’s basically a toss-up on which team will win the SEC West, but I’m going with the Tigers because of quarterbackJayden Danielsand the Tigers’ stout front seven on defense. Daniels has to be better throwing the ball down the field for LSU’s offense to prosper. There are also some holes in the secondary at DB U. Alabama is going to be steaming mad after falling to the Tigers 32-31 in overtime in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last season. I just don’t trust Alabama’s quarterbacks and receiver corps, which was pretty underwhelming last season. The Tide’s offensive line also has to play much better after surrendering 167 tackles for loss and 63 sacks the past two seasons combined.
LSU is also featured heavily in ESPN’s preseason superlatives. [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag] was named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year, [autotag]Maason Smith[/autotag] was named the Comeback Player of the Year and [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] was named the Coach of the Year.
To top it off, LSU’s season opener against Florida State was named the non-conference game of the year, while the rematch against Alabama was named the top conference matchup in the SEC.
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