The landscape has changed quite a bit the last 2 years. LSU is in about the same shape as the last 5 years, but winning the nat. championship will help Les by giving him more credibility with recruits. He's shown he can win the big games. By staying at LSU, he showed integrity and loyalty, and recruits should have no concern that he is moving on any time soon. This should improve our recruiting position a scoach. Good program, maintaining position. Auburn slipped in recruiting this year. Impact from Saban at Bama. I'm just looking at the cold hard facts. Aubies talk about Tubby's winning record against Saban, but that was a different deal. That was when Bama was on probation or just off, and LSU had La. and Auburn HAD the state a Alabama sewed up, which is obviously not the case. Tubby is equally as good a coach as Nick, proven head to head, but if Auburn and Bama come to a recruiting showdown in Bama, Nick seems to have the edge. Not good for Auburn, who seems heading for a slip over the next 3 years. Bama on the rise. Obviously Nick is not a master X and O coach, witness his record and losses to ULM and State. But he pulled a great class in. That's better than has been done there in a while. Bama probably gonna be our hot rival soon. Arky on the rise with Petrino. They had a terrible internal problem with Broyles and Nutt there, and they probably put themselves in better shape. Will not happen over night. Ole Miss probably helped themselves in the coaching dept., but I'm not sure it was that wise a move. Nutt created quite a stink in Arky, maybe he's a stinker. Not sure why Ole Miss did not conduct a wider search, but maybe they were not optimistic about attracting a name coach to Oxford, given spending of facilities and having to recruit against the rest of the SEC. I thought Cutcliffe was better than Coach O, their administration may not be too smart? Croom doing good at State, has achieved respectability IMO. Any opinion on what will change in recruiting with Petrino picking up at Arky and Nutt at Ole Miss? Petrino may steal a kid that Arky could not attract with Nutt there. Your thoughts?
LSU continues to reload with depth. If Miles can keep the Tigers out of recruiting trouble, and keep attracting high quality assistant coaches, we have at least 4-5 more years of really strong teams. I think LSU is in the hunt every year, regardless of road schedule. I don't think Bama will need much more than next year to turn the corner. Barring significant discipline trouble, Bama may even make a serious run at the conference next year. It may only take the first four games to get the Tide rolling. I never know what to think about Auburn. They played us to the wire last year. Look for them to be good again this year. Ole Miss is years away from any kind of resurgence. They're not Vandy. But they're not Bama either. Miss State was a pretty good team last year, so it'll be interesting to see if Croom can build on that. If we steal their QB recruit, as some think we might, then that's a bad sign. I keep waiting for Arky to return to power. Without DMac and Jones, I don't see it. Not for awhile. Petrino will need time. So, in summary, LSU, Auburn and Bama, then a big gap, then Arky, Miss State, and Ole Miss.
Yep. I read a Miles quote recently where he said in 2006, we were the hottest team over the second half of the year, and with an eight team playoff, LSU may have been back to back champs. I agree with him. There is no doubt in my mind that LSU and Fla. were the two best teams in 06, and if they played again at the end, I'd have bet on LSU. I think JaMarcus learned a lesson in the Fla. game, about no off days, or it will cost you, and he seemed to bear down the second half of the year and got it done. We'll just have to be content with our #3 finish in 06. Oh well. With Crowton calling the plays, who knows what would have happened... I think it has been an upgrade at OC, with Crowton coming in. I enjoy the games more, the offense is more diverse and its more fun to watch. That could be an edge for LSU that gets overlooked. I don't see many people talking about what Crowton brought to LSU last season. But, we won't be sneaking up on anyone the next few years, they already know about us with :crystal::crystal:.
LSU stays strong, recruiting needs were filled last year, this year should be even better for recruits. We'll be in the mix this year, but the schedule makes it tough. Auburn, while it appears that they slipped recruiting wise, should still be a player next year. Bama improves, but they are still a strong recruiting class or two away from being consistently in the top. While anyone can beat anyone, they're probably looking at 8-4, 7-5. Ark, and Ole Miss both made coaching improvements, but they have a long way to go still, but they will be able to ruin somebody's season. No doubt, the difference between winning the west and finishing third are razor thin. LSU will probably be the favorite, but a couple of bad bounces for us coupled with the even year road schedule, and we could finish third. Bama sitill needs a few really fortunate breaks to contend this year. Should be fun. And it'll get tighter every year, IMO.
Bama has always out recruited auburn in state.. from what I can tell Auburn wins the out-of-state battle. That rivalry just keeps getting better..
Doesn't surprise me, consider the source. This is the same person that doesn't think LSU's, mens basketball program won't ever be a good or top program because its too hard. No way we could ever be as good as UT, Memphis, Gonzaga, etc.
If you go back a couple of years you'd see that roughly half of the top players were split. Auburn would get some we were after, we'd get some that they were after. This year, players Auburn and Bama were after, Auburn didn't get a single one. When it comes to out of state battles, it's about a 50/50 thing. We don't end up having a lot of head to head battles with out of state recruits...there will be another team or two in the mix.
dude, go take your prosac. i didnt post anything pessimistic or complimentary, just a fact. figured some might find it mildly funny considering the thread title and it is basketball season. btw, the programs you listed arent even top ones. oh, two of them are ranked high, but what have they accomplished as a program in the last 5-10 years. two of them have NEVER been to the FF and the other hasnt been in forever. the real programs are UCLA, UK and UNC---and all of TWO football schools, UF and OhSt, with $$$ and facilities that LSU doesnt have. And by the measure of facilities and support, the LSU program is probably far overachieving.
