Short-term: LSU will have a drop-off next year. By a scheduling quirk, LSU has all of its toughest games on the road in even years and at home in odd years. Thus LSU has three championships in 2001 and 2003 and is contending again in 2005. Next year LSU has Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas on the road. Also, LSU loses a ton of impact players this year as 4th and 5th year seniors of Nick's #1 ranked recruiting classes graduate. 12-16 starters depart. 11 seniors and 3 juniors are being looked at by NFL scouts. These guys won a national championship and 2 (3?) SEC championships for LSU. Loss of these players will drop LSU's capability next year as surely as losing four first-round picks hurt Auburn this year. But like Auburn, LSU will not drop far. There are talented replacements waiting their turn, but LSU will become young again, in a year with tough road games. There will be some losses in 2006, but 2007 will be rosy. Long-term: There will be more odd-numbered years--plenty of them. Every other year LSU will have an edge in scheduling. Three more of Nick's recruiting classes return. Because of high retention by Saban, Miles only had 13 scholarships to give last year, but they averged 3.69 stars (4th nationally). His recruiting class this year is currently ranked #3 and #4. LSU seems to be doing fine in acquiring talent. Whether or not Miles proves to be a consistently capable head coach remains to be seen after we see him for three years. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. We went through three coaches before we found a keeper last time. But early criticism is essentially toothless since he had a winning record at Oklahoma State in a BCS conference and has a 91% record in the SEC so far. It's hard to find fault in a guy who is 10-1 and still in national and conference contention. Miles is not very articulate before the media and comes across as a simple country boy. I know he's a yankee, but as a southerner I can assure you that slow talkin' does not necessarily equal slow thinkin'. Charlie Mac was a real country boy, but he did damn good at LSU. I don't see Ole Miss or State going anywhere soon but Arkansas might. I think for the foreseeable future the SEC West is going to remain a LSU and Auburn contest with Bama breaking back into the game soon.
i dont see a drop off. skill positions will be better and lines will be good enough to let them shine. i think too much stock is given to difficulty of road games. next years team may average the 40 pts a game that CLM was shooting for this year. now, the team may lose more games, but any given saturday, you know.
This is a good point. Most hard games away, the loss of many seniors, this is what the Miles haters are waiting for......:yelwink2: Yeh well no matter what I see 3-2 drops next year. We might get lucky and make it to the SECCG, but it would be asking alot. Next year in the West Auburn and Arkansas will have good teams, Bama looks like it can be pretty good, and Ole Miss and Miss St. have no chance....We play Auburn, Tenn, Florida, and Arkansas on the road, that my friends won't be easy. This is why people should be happy now with LSU and at least try and enjoy our last two games of the season. We are playing in the biggest game of the year in the SEC, win that and it's alot of Sugar in New....err Atlanta , I don't know but that sounds kick ass to me....:grin: Who knows, without all the build up and hype next year people might enjoy the season and results more...
We retain our skill position players with the exception of Skyler & Bennie at WR, two guys who are nice to change things up with but not our main threats, & Addai (& Shyrone, but let's be honest... just Addai) at RB, who will be a big loss but Broussard should be back so there should actually be an increase in talent there. Depth may be an issue depending on how well our young RBs have developed by then. The lines (both offensive & defensive) is where we are going to feel the hit. We've got talent in the wings right now that will be good, but we will need to build some more depth & really have them shine next season. Having strong lines is a mark of champions and a tag of both this & 03's seasons. The loss of this class isn't just about losing talented guys though, it's about losing leaders that the team could kind of follow the lead from. Replacing them will be no easy task, but I feel like Miles really embraces letting the seniors be leaders & hope that next years seniors will assume a similar role. My prediction for next season is that our offense will be much improved, but that the defense will take a hit & it will once again be a dog fight game between Auburn & LSU that decides the SEC West. Long-term, I like where I think LSU is heading, but the other teams in the SEC West scare me. Auburn lost 4 first round draft picks and is still a very, very good team this year. Bama has been recruiting pretty well & their defense will continue to be one of the best in the country & they will be a tough team. Don't forget about Arkansas either. We saw how well Nutt can get them to play & how good some of those young players they have are. LSU won't be able to out-talent it's way into the SECCG the next few years - that's for sure.
This could be the case in some situations. But it is worth noting the winner of the LSU-Auburn game has been the home team 5 or 6 straight years.
also worth noting that the reason LSU is stuck with Florida every year since the 2 league system is due to fat roy kramer not wanting to disrupt the great UT/Bama matchup. its time to go to a rotating schedule in the east/west matchups. its nonsense forcing teams to be at a disadvantage due to that bs.
Well, for the time being, it looks like the match-ups are pretty even. What is it? LSU-Florida Auburn-Georgia Alabama-Tennessee Arkansas-South Carolina Mississippi State-Kentucky Ole Miss-Vandy
Good post. Broussard, Vincent, Robinson, Jackson, Murphy, Scott, Williams???? A good problem to have. I really think we will be OK on the D-Line. We have built depth this year by liberally substituting and have gotten significant playing time for just about every reserve out there. Woods is going to come in and start opposite Dorsey, and we have incredible DE's on the roster and coming in. Ryan Miller will come in and provide little to no dropoff at the C position, and Brett Helms will start at guard. House should start at one tackle position, Brian Johnson at the other...and I think the other line positions are up for grabs. I think Craig Davis, Dwayne Bowe, Laron Landry and Jessie Daniels will anchor our team as senior leaders. I truly believe that Dorsey, Favorite, and Woods will provide little to no dropoff at the DT position and we return and have recruited unbelievable DE talent. We lose Hollis and Vaughn at LB but return Highsmith.. and there are questions there. CB looks OK with Chevis Jackson returning and the other CB spot up for grabs with several talented guys going to compete for it.... Francis among others. I think our defense will remain strong where as the OLine is a major concern.
Excellent post. Miles can recruit, but as a gameday coach I still think the jury is out.As for the division, Alabama will make (has made) the breakthrough to compete with LSU and Auburn in the west for the next few years, particularly in 2007. I just don't see Arkansas being a threat with Nutt as coach. Ole Miss and MSU are in the ****hole for a long time to come.
