LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 70s?

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

I have a lot of thoughts on this, but for one, sugarlsu and BigWee_TEAMKATT are right that LSU 2000-2007 has already beat Spurrier's Florida program of the 90's (even if you don't consider National Championships at all).

Sure, like gumborue pointed out, Spurrier's Florida dominated the SEC in the 90's. But what was so great about that? Look at how weak the SEC was in the 90's -- only two SEC programs in the 90's had a winning percentage above 70%, Florida and Tennessee. In reality, the only threat to Florida's SEC dominance was Fulmer's Tennessee program. Now look at LSU 2000-2007. There were FIVE teams in the SEC from 2000-2007 that had a winning percentage above 70%. Yet, 2000-2007 LSU still had the best winning percentage of all of them, and 2000-2007 LSU still won more SEC Championships then all of them.

 

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

how has the different makeup of the sec affected these comparisons. bear's bama had gatech and didnt have usc and arky.

not sure how the SEC scheduling was.

still interested to see a comparison of sec records.

its hard to compare the SEC of different eras to the current one. if the bear wasnt around to dominate the 70s, would the sec then be seen as better/more competitive? did bama dominate because they were that great or because the sec wasnt so great?

 

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

LSU is 2-0 in National Title situations in the 2000's with two different coaches. UF was 1-1 in the 90's with SS. I don't think we need another NC to catch them. A couple more SEC Championships wouldn't hurt though.

 

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

I'm more impressed by what LSU has done in this decade because of :

1) Parity in the SEC
2) Seamless transition of coaches/players

As pointed out by several others, Florida and bama dominated a weaker SEC, but also kept their coach.

We went through a change of our head coach, DC(2 or 3 times?), and OC. Also 7 qb's in 7 years - Booty, Davey, Mauck, Randle, Russell, Flynn, Perilloux all started or played regularly over that time. We don't get qb's for 3-4 years like some programs seem to. A new qb means new leadership, new timing, new habits - basically it can be a restart for each one. How we were able to lose our qb and 2 starting wr's in the first round and increase our production is a testament to Crowton's schemes and teaching ability. Frankly, I was stunned at the offense this year. When you consider how shaky the wr corps was for a few games with Doucet out, what could it have been if had not been hurt? Truly amazing.

As far as pure numbers of NC or SECC, I don't see how we can surpass the bama teams or the Florida teams, but quantifying it surely shows that we are right there. If Miles is able to maintain this for another 2-4 years, it will not be in dispute.

Interesting comparisons to be sure.

 

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

i give most of the credit to the OL. this is also why i think the O will be better next season---the OL and having time to learn crowton's system.

 

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

It seems there should be a clear separation between present day and the past when Bama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, etc. stockpiled recruits with scholarships. They did not play anywhere near the competition that exists today until they played their in conference rival and then their Bowl game. They usually only played 2 tough games a year. That is why the winning percentage is so high. The record Spurrier compiled is much more impressive then what Bama compiled under Bear Bryant. What Miles is accomplishing is even more impressive in today's SEC.

College football today is much more exciting week to week. It's very nice to see the Bama's and Nebraska's having to compete on a level playing field with other schools. If they can get their programs turned around it will be better for their school and the conference they compete in.

 

Re: LSU in the 2000s -- on track to beat Spurrier in the 90's or Bear Bryant in the 7

Red, can you give some insight into why a few of the programs could stock pile the best players year end and year out? And once the number of Scholarships were reduced many of the top programs fell on hard times like Bama and Nebraska? Even Oklahoma had problems until Bob Stoops came along.