CFR, be not deceived, LSU is loaded, maybe the best talent level in the SEC? Check their recruiting over the last (5) years.

You check their recruiting, I'll look at their roster:

The DL is probably something like this-Jean-Francois, Dorsey, Favorite and Pittman (or did he get hurt?). Dorsey and Favorite are talented but that's three new starters on the line.

The LB's aren't all that imposing. Not really impressed with Highsmith. The secondary is terrible aside from Landry.

The OL is ok not great, Arnold's ok, new center.

Two good QB's and a bunch of backs with busted-up knees. I have more hope for the frosh (Scott and Williams) but then, they're frosh and probably will have to watch Justin Vincent play another year of very average football (what happened to him?? He was great in 2003 and then has been el busto since).

Davis and Bowe are consistent at WR but not ALL that talented. Doucet's three years into his career as a former #1 WR and has done almost nothing to date. Carter just left the program. So much for all that talent.

It's a good roster, has a star like Landry, the QB's and potentially very good DT's, but it's not like they're going to blow anyone away with that OL, LB's and secondary and their best backs are probably riding pine for most of the year.

Their roster is who they recruited you dumb-ass. You mean they're playing players they didn't recruit?

You can talk about USC reloading because of their recruiting but, when it comes to another team (SEC), it seems to be a problem.

If LSU and Tenn. is the sixth and eigth best teams in the SEC, there's definately not another conference close.

The eigth best team in the SEC will beat the
pac(1)0's second best team in (11) days. Bank on it!

First off, don't pull that "dumb-ass" name-calling again.

Second, there are recruit rankings and then there's the real-life roster played out. Carnell Stewart as a recruit was an elite DL recruit, but on the roster he's a washout at DL and moved to second or third-string offensive guard.

The rankings had Xavier Carter and Early Doucet as #1 and #2 WR's nationally. On the LSU roster, they're unproductive reserves, one of whom left the team.

So, suddenly, there's a disconnect emerging between LSU's recruiting rankings and what they actually have on the roster and on the field, got it?

One can talk about USC reloading because their highly touted guys are mostly living up to billing. Whitney Lewis left the team and Jeff Schweiger's been a disappointment at DE, but most everyone else of note looks good.

The USC recruiting point is made more by HP, who finds it unique that USC has had 3-4 consecutive #1 classes that have mostly panned out. Booty's now the starting QB, Jarrett's an elite WR, Byers is a fine guard now recovered from injury, Jackson's a fine end, Cushing and Maualuga look to be fantastic LB's, etc.

You have a problem with LSU 6th, who should reasonably be ahead of them? Is it that much of a stretch to think that Arkansas and Alabama might be better than them?

It hurts to see UT #8, but hard to argue with after last year. It's definitely a tough team to read right now: are they the 10 win, SEC East champion that won a bunch of close games 2 years ago, or are they the 5 win team that collapsed late in games over and over again last year (maybe some people don't realize that UT was in the game in the 4th quarter in every single game they lost last year, even the ND game)?

I think UT could end up anywhere from #3, winning the SEC East (not sold on the Gators - they don't have an offensive line, almost literally) to #8.

CFR, shouldn't have called you a dumb-ass, not helpful. I can debate without the name calling. Have you ever name-called? Don't forget I can check your archives.

BTW, what are you threatening me with? You might want to ban me because I'm going ride your ass on all this USC pac(1)0 biased crap. And, please don't quote HP on anything to make a point with me. He has less cred than you.

So, USC's recruiting has panned out and LSU's has not? "Suddenly", LSU loses a couple of players and there's a "disconnect"? USC loses a couple of players and everybody else has panned out? That's your arguement? LAME. Biased and Homer LAME.

Go back and read you Mea Culpa on Georgia and Boise. You're going to need some excuses and back-peddling pharses. I did notice that you left yourself a little room like if Cal does this or that Tenn might accidently win. You should be more confident, the pac(1)0's #2 team against the SEC's #8 team. LAME.

Surprise me with your USC Arkansas analysis. Can't do it can you?

So you follow up name-calling with threats? Feel free to piss all over the carpet while you're at it.

I'm not threatening you with anything, I'm asking you to not do it again, however.

I don't mind you being here at all, disagree all you want, just be respectful and try and be classy about it.

What about USC/Arkansas? It's pretty simple, Arkansas has a first-time college OC in his first game going up against Pete Carroll's defense. Good luck with that one.

I apologized for the name calling. Don't accept, it's just a matter of class. What threat are you talking about?

And, didn't you know, like Cutcliffe, Carroll's over-rated and his reputation is all because of the players he's had. Ask the other pac(1)0 lapdog HP.

I kind of think you overrate Georgia, but I sure hope you're right.

I also think you overrate Alabama, but I don't think the actual games will bear that out. Their ridiculously easy schedule means they'll probably end up 9-3 at worse. They have 7(!!!) functional byes, 2 decent games (Ark and UT on the road), and 3 tough games (UF, LSU, Auburn). On the basis of how good they really are, I probably would put them around 7th, but I think their record will be about where you have them. I'd put LSU ahead of them on talent.

Heaven forbid the entire country -- no, the whole planet -- no, the whole UNIVERSE!!!1!!111! -- doesn't automatically bow down before the glory that is the SEC and all it represents. Egads, for a bunch of people that are so smug and arrogant about their football superiority, some fans of that conference are awfully defensive.

No need for a lot of name calling. Let's re-look at LSU's roster:

QB's- At least two solid QB's- you can pick which two are definitely solid. I am one of those who thinks the better QB's are sitting.

RB's- I'm thinking we'll have Broussard back for the AU game. It will be good though for Vincent to get a chance to start by himself and build some confidence. We also have RJ Jackson/Richard Murphy/Keiland Williams/Charles Scott who are all pretty good backs from what I have heard. All are unproven though. To be honest this shouldn't be a big deal until the Auburn game by which something will have been figured out (like the return of Broussard).

WR's- CFR you got it backwards: Bowe and Davis have the talent but not the consistancy. Bowe could be one of the top 5 WR's in the country if it wasn't for his tendency to drop the ball. As for Early he has been fourth on the depth chart for two years. He'll have more of a chance to prove himself this year. Xavier couldn't catch the ball. Look for Trindon Holliday to play a similar role to Skyler Green this year.

OL- Lots of questions here, I'm not very educated about our line honestly.

DL-We'll struggle up here for the first few weeks (one of the main reasons I think we will lose to AU) but the talent is definitely there with guys like Ricky Jean-Francois, Al Woods, Al Jones, etc. By the end of October this will become more of a solid unit.

LB-Highsmith is a great weakside linebacker in my opinion. The question will be who will step up in the other two spots. I think Darry Beckwith could have a good season.

DB- Jessie Daniels and Laron Landry form one of the best safety pairs in the country. Both of these guys will be huge this year. I think CFR underestimates our corners. Corey Webster didn't perform well at all last year but he is gone now. Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon both should be good enough to play well against our opponents, nearly all of which have shaky passing attacks.

CFR constantly underrated us last year, I'm not surprised that he is underrating us this year.

As for the rest of his rankings... well I don't think Arkansas has the talent to finish in the top 5. They are a good team and will go bowling but I don't think they are THAT good yet. Kentucky will be better this year than expected and with a couple surprise wins could even go bowling. Ole Miss is definitely improving and could get in a bowl also.

Cheers,
Ryan

If the pre-season number #8 team in the SEC does beat the pre-season #2 team in the Pac 10, all that may tell us is that one team may have been underrated, and one may have been overrated. It will tell us nothing about the relative strength of the conferences---not until the rest of the season is played out, anyway. After all, did a young USC's road shutout of then #5 ranked (nationally) Auburn at the beginning of 2003 tell us anything definitive about the SEC vs. the Pac 10 that year?

As embarrassing as it is to say it, I'd be elated with a 2nd place SEC West finish this year, but I'm not sure Alabama is quite there yet. You're the first (non-Alabama) person I've seen to pick them higher than 3rd and I've seen many people have them fourth (and even a few tied for fourth with Ole Miss!)

CFR,
You're certainly entitled to your opinion on how LSU will finish this season, but your first reply shows you don't seem to be that informed on the Tigers.
On defense, Chase Pittman is the lone returning starter on the defensive line and he is not hurt. You may be thinking of Kirston Pittman (no relation), who missed last season with an achilles injury and doesn't appear ready to come back yet. Chase had several big moments last year, but needs a lot more consitency, but if you've watched any significant amount of SEC football, you'd at least know he's at least as good as anybody Alabama has back on their defensive line.
As for the rest of the unit, new starters Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson (he'll likely be the starter on the other side, not Jean-Francois) both saw significant playing time each of the last two seasons. Dorsey has been the first reserve behind the stud d-tackles of the last two years, and has drawn nothing but rave reviews since Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten left. He'll likely also be a team captain.
As for the unimpressive linebackers, I'll list two stat lines for you:

76 tackles, 16 TFL, 5 sacks. 1 interception and two fumble recoveries
75 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 interception and one fumble recovery

The first is 2005 all-american Demeco Ryans of Alabama. The second is Ali Highsmith as a sophomore last season. Unimpressed still?
I will grant that the other two starters are unproven, but certainly no less so than the new starters at Auburn or Alabama.
In the secondary you'd be very hard pressed to find a better safety combination than LaRon Landry and Jessie Daniels. LSU's corners aren't the world-beaters that Corey Webster and Travis Daniels were in 2003, but they aren't asked to be by Bo Pelini. He won't be blitzing seven or eight with press-man coverage too often, a la the Saban/Will Muschamp defensive combination did.

As to your statement "Is it that much of a stretch to think that Arkansas and Alabama might be better than them?"...Um, yeah it kind of is, if you've been paying attention. Alabama won almost exclusively on defense in 2005 — and returns just four starters from said unit. One of those starters, linebacker Juwan Simpson, is still awaiting his fate on a drugs and weapons possession charge. Offensively, while the very good Ken Darby returns, they are rebuilding on both the offensive line and in the passing game. At wide receiver Keith Brown and D.J. Hall certainly can run, but have shown even less consistency catching the ball than LSU's Dwayne Bowe.
As for Arkansas — were Darren McFadden in the lineup, I'd almost give them a slight puncher's chance against USC, only because I think he's that good. Without him, I think the more appropriate question is, do YOU not think it's a stretch to speculate that the same quarterback who started last year's USC butt-kicking or a freshman will double last year's 4-win squad? It seems like a tall order to me.