Rankings are somewhat meaningless in the grand scheme of things, especially in the preseason. Rankings are based on what coaches and media members think without seeing a team in live game action. However, they do give some key indicators as to how some perceive the team.
For instance, the coaches viewed the LSU Tigers as the No. 13 overall team in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. The AP voters saw them lower as they were ranked at No. 16 team in their preseason poll. Three spots don’t mean a whole lot, but there is still a difference in perception.
ESPN power ranked the Tigers at No. 14 and the Football Power Index has them at No. 18. The SP+ metric that bases the ranking on analytics has the Bayou Bengals all the way down to No. 43.
[vertical-gallery id=22007]
USA TODAY Sports and CBS even released their top 130 rankings with every school in FBS. LSU comes in at No. 18 and No. 14 respectively. For the final piece of the preseason ranking puzzle, we look at The Athletic. According to Chris Vannini (subscription required), the Tigers come in barely inside the top 20. They are ranked No. 20, which is much lower than most other rankings outside of the analytics.
[lawrence-related id=23178]
LSU (20) stumbled last year amid injuries and opt-outs, but with most starters back, can Ed Orgeron fix things after another offseason of staff turnover?
The Tigers had their fair share of issues in the 2020 season. An offense that lacked continuity due to injuries and the revolving door at quarterback. An offensive line that struggled, and lack of consistency at running back. Maybe their best young receiver didn’t get going until late in the season. Kayshon Boutte showed what he was made of in the final three games of the year.
The defensive side of the ball was a completely different story. It was abysmal and at times downright embarrassing. Which pretty much sums up Bo Pelini’s coaching career. Dating back to 1952, no LSU team had ever given up the 34.9 points per game that his defense did in 2020.
In fact, since 1952, the 1998 defense was the only one in that span to give up more than 25 points per game (25.4). It was a level of incompetence that no living Tiger fan had seen. The 492 yards allowed per game were the most by a wide margin. In that dreadful 1998 season, it was the only other time they gave up north of 400 yards per game.
[listicle id=23262]
Going into 2021, there is a renewed feeling around Baton Rouge. The return of the 2019 offense and a new coordinator give this team faith they can have a huge bounceback season.