Found this on cbssportsline.com. I will not post the entire article just the relevant stuff. A conversation between Dennis Dodd and J. Darin Darst. The title of the article is, "Think Tank: Recapping and Looking Ahead." Darst: I like an SEC battle between LSU/Tennessee/Florida. LSU had one of the best recruiting classes last year and those kids are going to start making an impact. Xavier Carter and Early Doucet at wide receiver and I like what JaMarcus Russell did at quarterback, especially coming off the bench in the bowl game. Obviously the question will be if Les Miles can guide them to an SEC title. Darst: OK, I'll put you on the spot -- give me your preseason top 5 right now and then I will tell you mine. Dodd: 1. USC. 2. LSU. 3. Michigan. 4. Texas. 5. Ohio State. Darst: Here is mine: 1. USC. 2. Ohio State. 3. LSU. 4. Texas. 5. Iowa. We basically like the same teams. Were there any schools that had a great year this year that you think will really struggle in 2005? What do you guys think? Usucks has to be everyone's number one. But this is the highest that I have seen LSU mentioned in preseaon rankings.:tigerhead How long till football season? GEAUX TIGERS!!
We're getting a lot of mentions in these VERY early pre-season polls (earlier thread discussing Stewart Mandel having us at #2 also.) That's a good sign, but it can go either way. Just ask Auburn fan. One year, they're ranked high, falter early and are then tarred and feathered for making the talking heads look like morons. Then last year, they start ranked too low (see above as to why) and they can't make up the ground after winning every game. In the end, I'll take a Top 5 ranking over a Top 10 or 15 any day!
Yep, what it boils down to is there are high expectations because of the tremendous talent we have coming back and that is a very good thing IMO.
It's early, yes, but we're already seeing a repeat of what happened in 2004: USC starts at #1 and, unless they lose, will finish the regular season there (esp. if Leinart returns). So, you have a bunch of teams clawing for one spot. Texas looks really good to me right now, especially if Ohio State returns to top 10 status. An 11-0 Texas team with wins over a 10-1 Ohio St. and a 10-1 OU looks like a definite top two team. I doubt any other top ten teams have a tougher non-conference opponent on the schedule than Texas and Ohio St.
That's ridiculous if you ask me. LSU shouldn't be ranked in the top 5. I'll take it though. They're judging based on Russells Bowl performance, returning talent, new quality coaching staff. They need to judge the 2004 offense and lack of a QB instead Russell's Bowl performance. LSU will be good and we should be able to win the West, but we won't if our QB performs like it in 2004. Therefore I think it is premature to put LSU in the top 5. But if LSU ends up winning the SEC title with 0 or 1 loss then that high preseason ranking will help us out. One thing that needs to be considered at Texas, is that there is some major coaching changes going on there also. This could be an issue and also the fact that Vince Young is not a very good passer will really hurt them because they won't have Cedric Benson to help out. If Texas had any kind of passing game they would have beaten OU. IMO this lack of passing offense will continue in 2005 and if you can't throw you will not win a title. I don't think Texas should be ranked so high. No passing QB, no Doak Walker running back, major staffing changes.
UT, like every school, has question marks. That's what makes any pre-season (or even early season poll) fairly ridiculous. I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that USC will run the table, with or without Leinert. They slipped a few times last year, and needed miracle breaks in their favor to win the games. Sure, they won in the end, but they're far from unbeatable. I like our chances about as much as anyone's.
Last year we were preseason #3, ended #16. Auburn was preseason #17, ended #2. That poll means absolutely nothing. Ranking will be earned on the field. I don't think we deserve it either. Big question at QB, totally new coaching staff. Lost 2 all americans in Spears and Webster. If Jamarcus Russell develops some more, and Matt Flynn (I think we will need them both), we might earn a top 5 slot, but a lot of "maybe's" have to come true, more than I can realistically predict.
I agree that we will have to have a better performance from our qb; however, we are in a very similar situation as last year, if not better. We will once again have all of our rb's back and a complete and seasoned o-line. I think that we should be able to win evey game with the running game, if we have to. But I like our chances in being able to throw the ball more effectivly. Les and Jimbo will get the offense rolling next year and I expect some excitement. If we can avoid mental mistakes early in the season then we will go undefeated.
I have bought into this whole thing that being ranked high is a bad thing. Good teams win with high expectations.....
