College Football: 10 Teams who could dethrone Clemson and Alabama
5. LSU
LSU exceeded expectations in Ed Orgeron’s second full season as the head coach, finding a way to 10 wins despite facing one of the nation’s toughest schedules.
The Tigers opened the season by bludgeoning Miami in Dallas. They knocked off Auburn a couple of weeks later on the road to signal to the country that they were legit. A road loss to Florida did little to dispute that as they rolled over Georgia the next week in Death Valley.
A 29-0 defeat at home to Alabama showed just how far LSU still has to come to be legitimate contenders in the SEC and on a national level. It was their eight straight defeat to the Crimson Tide, a hump that Orgeron will eventually have to clear to maintain the good graces that he built up this season.
LSU will have to replace some key pieces, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, and they still need added depth in the trenches on both sides of the ball to be viable contenders for the SEC crown and a berth in the playoff.
Key defenders Greedy Williams, Terrence Alexander, and Ed Alexander will need to be replaced, and Devin White is widely expected to forego his final year of eligibility to declare for the draft. They should still return 15 starters even with White’s expected departure, and are bringing in the nation’s No. 5 ranked recruiting class according to the 247 composite rankings.
Their class is headlined by three five stars, with more potentially joining, who should be able to contribute immediately. Derek Stingley is the nation’s top-ranked corner, and he could help mitigate the loss of star corner Greedy Williams. RB John Emery Jr. should provide some instant help in a running game that will be replacing leading rusher Nick Brossette.
Perhaps the biggest, literally and figuratively, addition to the class is five-star offensive guard Kardell Thomas who could come in and find a starting role immediately on an offensive line that failed to gel throughout the 2019 season.
The biggest reason for optimism for next season might actually be the return of rising senior QB Joe Burrow, who after struggling to find his footing over the first half of the season, had a torrid finish to the season. Three of his four most prolific passing games came over the season’s final three contests.
In the Fiesta Bowl against UCF, with LSU down numerous players due to injuries, suspensions, and draft declarations, Burrow torched the Knights for 394 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a 40-32 victory over previously undefeated UCF.
LSU will have to figure things out quickly in 2019 as they travel to Austin in week two to battle Texas. They also have to play Alabama on the road in November, but the rest of the schedule is manageable.
They face permanent cross-over opponent Florida at home, while drawing Vanderbilt in the East rotation. Auburn and Texas A&M must travel to Death Valley. If they can knock off Texas on the road early in the season, they might be undefeated when they travel to Bryant-Denny in November, where a loss to the Crimson Tide likely wouldn’t knock them out of contention in the playoff race.