Athlon's pre-preseason 2012 poll rankings | Page 4 | TigerFan.com

LSUTiga · Dec 10, 2011

ROY_LA_CA said: ↑

No concern --- Just trying to show that Athlon’s 2012 projected ranking of USC at #2 --- Behind #1, LSU is not out of line.

In fact, I would love to see LSU / USC finish one and two for 2012.
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Oh I meant that in general, not specific to you.

hklsu777 · Dec 10, 2011

Rwilliams said: ↑

Lsu pre-preseason #1

A Very Early College Football Top 25 for 2012 | AthlonSports.com
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Should be better next year with Mett at QB and having such a young, deep team this year. Hilliard and OBJ both should be greatly improved, and hopefully RR stays.

:geauxtige

ASD · Dec 10, 2011

Doesn't matter. Let them play up USCw all they want. They Cant handle us right now. Wrong time for them to be at 2. For them. Barkley comes back for sure IMO and is the top QB taken next year. The hyp machine is kicking into high gear. Football gods, Please deliver us the Trojans. But first...Bama.

tigerchick46 · Dec 11, 2011

LaSalleAve said: ↑

USC at number 2, that's laughable. As long as Lane Kiffin is their head coach, they may look and smell like number 2 but they aren't in any rankings.
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That's hilarious and ridiculous......would love to beat the snot out of them in 2012

SabanFan · Dec 11, 2011

hklsu777 said: ↑

Should be better next year with Mett at QB and having such a young, deep team this year. Hilliard and OBJ both should be greatly improved, and hopefully RR stays.

:geauxtige
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Everybody is assuming we are golden at QB next year. We're losing 10 years of experience under center. I'm not as optimistic, but I'm hopeful.

diamondheadtiger · Dec 11, 2011

SabanFan said: ↑

Everybody is assuming we are golden at QB next year. We're losing 10 years of experience under center. I'm not as optimistic, but I'm hopeful.
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This so true. Isltl has Zach already with a heisman trophy and a couple National titles and in the NFL breaking Marino records and stuff. Yet he has never really played CFB yet...

ramahsghost · Dec 11, 2011

ROY_LA_CA said: ↑

USC has been appealing the sanctions and up until now has not felt any real impact. Rival’s has ranked their last three years recruiting as:
> 2011: 4th with 30 recruits (3.47 Avg Stars)
> 2010: 1st with 20 recruits (4.20 Avg Stars)
> 2009: 4th with 19 recruits (3.89 Avg Stars)

However, even though they are well stock-piled, now with their appeal denied, the sanctions will begin to go into affect. For 2012, Rivals currently shows them 23rd with only nine recruits, but these nine have an average star ranking of 3.89

Some are arguing that USC, even with the sanctions will be able to attract top talent and the sanctions, if they hurt, will “ONLY” hurt USC’s depth. See… USC Football Recruiting: How Will Sanctions Affect Trojans Down the Road? | Bleacher Report

Even without following USC, living in Los Angeles, I have heard that USC has lost some top talent that they thought they had tied up.

Looking at LSU this year, we all know how important depth can be and I can’t help but to think that the sanctions will have some impact, but probably not so much in 2012, especially if their quarter-back returns.
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I'll remind you of this when they lay down and whimper when we're feeding them their own spleens in the 3rd & 4TH Quarters in Miami in Jan 2013 ... if they have enough nutsack to make it past Oregon

Bud Lee · Dec 11, 2011

tigerchick46 said: ↑

That's hilarious and ridiculous......would love to beat the snot out of them in 2012
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Doing a pre-season poll before the NFL draft is absolutely ridiculous. Sh*t even a preseason poll a few weeks before opening week is a little silly…BUT…it is going to be SICK how good LSU is going to be next year. We are losing…what…one safety a lineman and a corner (if Mo goes) on D and then we are going to get ALL 4 RBS back along with all the receivers and will have an what will probably be an upgrade in talent at QB and a strong front five….this team has a legit shot at getting to the National Championship back to back.

I'm with you Tigerchick...I would love to finally have a shot at USC next year with the talent that be wearing the purple and gold in 2012.

Rwilliams · Dec 11, 2011

How good is our o-line gonna be next year is a big question. How good your line is is directly proportionate to the quality of your offense.Poor o-line equals poor offensive production. I hope our line next year is good like this years was.

cajdav1 · Dec 11, 2011

lsutiga said: ↑

That's the million dolla question. It's not just about "them deserving" a top 10 ranking, it's also about if the "#1 team" deserves it. Even IT is questioned annually, it seems, definitely debated.

Doesn't really matter to me. I like to make people think and not take things at face value. It's made people on here despise me and often think I was "pro" this or "anti" that when in fact I wasn't.

On that note, consider this. In 2009 the PAC10 went 1-6 vs Moutain WEST teams in their regular season but when bowl season came around the PAC was 5-0. See how hard it can be? The old "eye ball test."

Personally, I don't use bowl records to judge conferences. Excluding BCS matchups the rest are often one conference's #3 team vs. another's #6. Especially this year, for example. The SEC's two best teams that would maul any other teams but only one LSU will be able to garner a "W" for the SEC and Bama is going to count as an "L".
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One very important thing to look at is how the bowl pairings play out. If you look closely you will notice that the sec and the big 12 trend to play up as far a their conference ranking is concerned whereas the PAC plays down by positions.