Where would you rather be ranked? #1 to open season Anywhere else I've seen people complaining about not wanting to be ranked #1 because the target is on our back While others complain about not being ranked higher (most recently in baseball being ranked behind such powerhouses as coastal carolina and tcu) where do you stand?
In football, I would rather be ranked #1. You start off with a lot of respect. You don't have to earn it. Now the SEC is on such a run right now, that as long as you take care of business, you will play in the BCS title game. In baseball, rankings early in the season don't matter. There are plenty of games to prove your worth.
I welcome the challenge of starting the year #1. The more pressure and adversity the team faces, the sweeter the victory is in the end. I would rather see us win a championship with a brutal schedule than a softer one with few or no tough road trips and/or OOC games. If we run the table next year, I don't see anyone claiming we had an easy OOC schedule or played most or all of our tough games at home.
In college football, starting high in the polls is paramount. Starting #2 in '07 is what allowed us back into the championship picture when the impossible happened the last week of the season. We are LSU; we should not worry about "targets" on our backs. We've had one firmly there since the '03 championship. Any team that has one 2 MNC's in the past 8 years is going to be targeted. Bring on #1. Have we ever been ranked #1 to start a season? Obviously, it's really possible this year, with Oregon probably at #2 because the media would salivate over that matchup in Jerry World on opening weekend.
Preseason polls are like the starting gate at the Kentucky derby. Don't mean much till those gates swing open. We shall see who has Secretariat.
Except that's not true. As was mentioned earlier, being ranked highly in the preseason is important, if you have any national championship aspirations. Teams don't start out even, as the horses do.
LSU has not done well handling the pressure of a #1 football ranking, especially in 2007, and that's something I want to see changed. If you're truly a notch above the competition, then you welcome the challenge of that bullseye and prove that you deserve the ranking. I seriously doubt we will start out there, but if we start the season in the Top 10 and win the opener against Oregon, then we should be sitting pretty in the Top 5.
The barn started in less then idea preseason ranking last time out. I believe what holds true for LSU, holds true for Bama, holds true for Florida. Just win.
I would not want to be ranked number 1. Look at our schedule. If we run the table or drop 1 game and win the SEC we are playing for the marbles. We don't need to be ranked number 1 at the beginning of the season. Those rankings shouldn't even come out until week 7.
