Tag: Athlon

Several LSU games crack Athlon’s top matchups in 2024

LSU had three matchups on the list headlined by the season opener against USC.

Athlon Sports’ college football preview magazine has ranked its top 20 games for the 2024 season and LSU has three games on the list.

All three of the LSU games are ranked between No. 11-20. Coming in at No. 16 on the list is the annual (for now) Alabama vs. LSU game. On Saturday, Nov. 9, LSU will host Alabama in what is always one of the most highly anticipated games each season. The last time the Tide traveled to Baton Rouge, LSU won in double overtime on a gutsy two-point conversion play. Alabama is entering a new era with [autotag]Kalen DeBoer[/autotag] so it will be interesting to see how Alabama will play this fall.

Coming in at No. 14 on the list is LSU hosting Ole Miss on Oct. 12. [autotag]Lane Kiffin[/autotag] and the Rebels handed the Tigers a pivotal loss last season that put the Tigers behind the eight-ball early in the season. LSU will be looking for revenge in the confines of their own stadium.

At No. 12 on the list is the opening game of the season as LSU takes on USC in Las Vegas. USC is a team that enters every season with a lot of hype but they have not been really good since the 2000s. Unlike the past two seasons, LSU will look to start the year off with a win.

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Athlon has LSU finishing just outside top 5 in preseason SEC standings

The Tigers could still be a fringe playoff competitor if Athlon’s prediction comes to pass.

With the SEC expanding to 16 teams with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, divisions are now a thing of the past.

That means that LSU won’t just have to win the SEC West to reach the title game in Atlanta; it will have to finish with a top-two record in the league, as well.

Athlon recently released its annual preseason college football preview magazine, and in its first predictions for the expanded SEC, it has LSU finishing just outside the top five in the final standings at No. 6.

While that isn’t exactly an ideal finish, it’s not exactly out of the question that it could be enough to make the College Football Playoff, which will expand to 12 teams for the first time this fall.

Whether LSU pushes for a spot remains to be seen, but it’s clear Athlon sees the Tigers as an upper-half SEC team.

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Athlon predicts LSU’s bowl game destination in 2024

Athlon has the Tigers drawing Miami in the Gator Bowl this season.

For the first time in the College Football Playoff era, the postseason format will feature 12 teams in 2024. With expansion means a better chance for LSU to return to the CFP for the first time since 2019.

All New Year’s Six games have been absorbed into the playoff structure now, and that significantly impacts the way bowl projections operate as we enter the 2024 season. In Athlon Sports’ preseason college football preview magazine, projections for each bowl game are given, and LSU lands in a spot that would probably be deemed a disappointment.

Athlon has the Tigers in the Gator Bowl facing Miami, another team that probably wouldn’t be too happy to find itself in a mid-tier January bowl game. LSU has only played in the Gator Bowl once, a win over South Carolina back in 1987.

The Tigers will hope to prove these rankings wrong and crack the initial 12-team field, but with a lot of pieces to replace on both sides of the ball, there are certainly quite a few questions.

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Where LSU ranks in Phil Steele’s preseason preview

Phil Steele joined the club by ranking LSU as a preseason top 10 team.

It’s season preview time, and there’s a lot more optimism surrounding the LSU football program than there was this time last year.

The Tigers were expected to have a rebuilding year in 2022 in the first season under coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag], but they overachieved by winning 10 games and the SEC West. Now, LSU has real conference title and College Football Playoff hype entering the 2023 season.

Most sites have this team ranked in the preseason top 10, and Athlon’s Phil Steele was no different in his preseason magazine. He ranked the Tigers No. 9 overall, behind only Georgia (No. 1) and Alabama (No. 4) in the SEC.

LSU will have to prove itself early in the year as it opens against Florida State in a rematch of last year’s season opener in Orlando. Steele has the Seminoles one spot above the Tigers at No. 8 in his rankings.

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Athlon’s Phil Steele says LSU is a ‘legitimate national title contender’ in 2023

Many expect LSU to take another leap after overachieving in Brian Kelly’s first season.

The Tigers exceeded all expectations in Brian Kelly’s first season at the helm, winning 10 games while winning the SEC West.

Now, those expectations are set to rise quite a bit in 2023 as LSU returns one of the most talented rosters in college football. Some see this team as a College Football Playoff contender, and maybe even a team that could capture a national title.

You can include Athlon’s Phil Steele, who had high praise for the Tigers in his annual season preview magazine, among that group. Steele was impressed with how quickly Kelly managed to reverse the misfortunes from the prior two campaigns, and he called this team a “legitimate national title contender” in 2023.

“LSU trailed Auburn by 17 and Mississippi State by 13 but won each,” Steele said, per On3. “They lost to Tennessee by 27. LSU trailed Ole Miss by 17, beat Bama in OT and got past Arkansas by 3 (Hogs QB out). Showing their tight rope act they were -5 YPG in SEC play but got to the SEC title game and blew out Purdue 63-7 in the bowl for a 10-4 year and were No. 16.

“This year, they are preseason top 10 and do have better talent and are in Kelly’s second year. They do rate a -3.0 in my Stock Market Indicator and were two plays away from being 7-5 last year but are more experienced, grew as the season went on and the defending SEC West champs are a legitimate National Title contender in Kelly’s second year.”

Achieving that potential will be easier said than done as LSU has a difficult schedule that features a non-conference matchup against a likely top-10 team in Florida State to open the season as well as a road game against Alabama.

Still, as Steele rights, this should be a more talented team in Year 2. The Tigers played with fire quite a bit last season and ultimately overachieved, but now they’ll have to meet expectations that have skyrocketed very quickly.

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Athlon predicts SEC West standings for 2023 season

Will LSU repeat as SEC West champions in 2023?

As the calendar prepares to turn to July, the start of fall camp is right around the corner.

Though there’s always the chance for some changes between now and kickoff on the first weekend of September, rosters are mostly finalized, and we have a pretty good idea of what teams will look like.

With that in mind, Athlon made its order-of-finish predictions for both the SEC East and West in the final season of the division format. Though LSU is the defending West champion, Athlon isn’t buying into the hype.

Alabama is predicted to win the West with a 12-1 record and a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship. Athlon has LSU finishing 10-2 (6-2 SEC) and in second place in the division.

The Tigers return a lot of talent and are widely viewed as a potential College Football Playoff dark horse. But it’s clear coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] still has some doubters as he looks to take a Year 2 leap.

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Georgia has league-high 15 players selected to Athlon’s All-SEC preseason teams

15 Georgia players on Athlon’s All-SEC teams

On Monday, Athlon Sports released its 2023 SEC All-Conference teams.

Georgia, the two-time defending national champions, placed a league-high 15 players on the teams. Georgia had five players make the first team, eight to the second team, two on the third team and none featured on the fourth team.

Alabama had the second-most selections with 12. LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Missouri each had double-digit selections as well.

See below for which Georgia players made the cut:

First team offense:

  • TE Brock Bowers
  • C Sedrick Van Pran

First team defense:

  • DL Mykell Williams
  • LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson
  • S Malaki Starks

Second team offense:

  • WR Ladd McConkey
  • WR Dominic Lovett
  • OL Xavier Truss
  • OL Tate Ratledge

Second team defense:

  • DL Nazir Stackhouse
  • LB Smael Mondon
  • CB Kamari Lassiter
  • S Javon Bullard

Third team offense:

  • RB Kendall Milton
  • OL Amarius Mims, Georgia

Athlon Sports names 5 Michigan State football players to preseason all-conference team

Check out which five Spartans are being predicted by Athlon Sports to go all-conference:

Michigan State is looking to bounce back from a pitiful 5-7 campaign a year ago that saw the Spartans finish with a 3-6 record in Big Ten play. There is hope going into the 2023 campaign, as the Spartans bring back a host of talent that has experience winning at this level.

Athlon Sports has come out with their predictions for the 2023 Big Ten season, releasing their all-conference team.

Check out which five Spartans made the cut, and are being predicted by Athlon to go all-conference:

Athlon’s preseason All-American teams include five Georgia football players

Five Georgia players made Athlon Sports’ preseason All-American teams.

Five Georgia Bulldogs were recently included on Athlon Sports’ preseason All-American teams.

The three Bulldogs who earned first-team honors should not be difficult to guess — tight end Brock Bowers, cornerback Kelee Ringo and defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

Outside linebacker Nolan Smith earned second team honors. Safety Chris Smith made the fourth team.

Both Carter and Ringo are expected to be early picks in next year’s NFL draft and will be the leaders on Georgia’s 2022 defense along with outside linebacker Nolan Smith and safety Chris Smith.

Ringo, a redshirt sophomore and former five-star recruit out of Scottsdale, Arizona, recorded 34 tackles, two interceptions and a touchdown that will go down as maybe the greatest play in the history of Georgia football.

Pro Football Focus recently listed its top ten defensive tackle prospects for the 2023 NFL draft, with Carter checking in at No. 1. A junior out of Apopka, Florida, Carter is coming off a season in which he recorded 37 tackles, 8.5 for a loss and three sacks.

Bowers will only be a sophomore next season but was surely America’s top tight end in 2021.

He was easily Georgia’s biggest offensive weapon last season and reeled in 56 catches for 882 yards, 13 receiving touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown en route to being named a member of the Associated Press and Coaches’ All-SEC First Team. His 13 receiving touchdowns are a single season record at UGA. He was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Nolan Smith and Christopher Smith both opted to return to Georgia for their senior seasons and boost their draft stock.

Both played a huge role on Georgia’s 2021 defense and will look to do so again in 2022.

Nolan Smith recorded 53 total tackles, 8 for a loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 interception and 3 forced fumbles last season and will be one of the league’s best pass rushers this fall.

Christopher Smith started the season with a pick-six against Clemson in a 10-3 victory and closed it with a nice showing against Alabama in the national title game.

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Our leading CFB preview publications (print and digital) and where they rank Georgia

Here’s a look at the leading college football preview publications — three of which still print magazines and two that have switched to digital.

The top College Football Preview magazines are filled with loads of team and conference information and expert analysis. Each publication, whether it now be print or digital, provides details that help fuel the spirited debate among college fans. Georgia, the defending national champions, are listed in the top 5 in every poll, with Alabama picked at No. 1 in almost every publications this offseason.

As we enter the lazy, dog days of summer, our attention turns to college football’s fourth season…….preseason, where every team is a potential conference champion and the hopes run high among every college fan.

We’re really down to just three remaining magazines: Phil Steele, Lindy’s and Athlon. Both ESPN and Sporting News have since moved to digital previews only, however, in the spirit of nostalgia we included their previews.

As a bonus, at the end of the season, we will review the preseason predictions and rate each of the magazines. So pick up your favorite publication and satisfy your inner David Pollack.