National college football guru Phil Steele released his preseason top 25 recently, and the LSU Tigers come in at No. 6.
The Tigers are coming off a 15-0 season in which they captured their fourth national championship in program history.
LSU lost 14 players to the NFL, and two coaches from the staff. Former defensive coordinator Dave Aranda accepted the head coaching job at Baylor. Joe Brady, the Tigers former passing game coordinator, is now with the Carolina Panthers as their offensive coordinator.
Steele ranked LSU behind SEC opponents Alabama and Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide came in at No. 2 behind Ohio State. The Aggies placed fifth, just ahead of the Tigers.
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While the Tigers are the defending national champions, they are replacing a plethora of talent on both sides of the ball. All eyes will be on the quarterback position as Myles Breenan seeks to be the successor to Heisman Trophy winner and first-overall pick Joe Burrow.
Behind the Tigers, Steele has Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky in his top 25 to round out teams from the SEC.
Georgia comes in at No. 7 right behind LSU. Florida is 13, while Auburn, Tennessee and Kentucky rank 19, 20 and 21.
Should these rankings hold, the Tigers could face at least four top 25 teams in the 2020 season. With a conference-only schedule the likely destination for the upcoming season, that number against ranked teams could increase depending on how the Tigers realign their schedule.
It will be interesting to see where the Tigers rank once the AP preseason top 25 is released later before the start of the college football season.
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