The main argument for them being in that "second tier" is that LSU always figures it out. I don't think they're anywhere near Ole Miss, Mizzou, or Bama on paper. Moscona is a good dude, but he is so obviously a homer. Listening to him emotionally discuss LSU sports is no different than listening to Ben Garrett discuss the Rebs.
Imagine any other school loses a Heisman dynamic player like Jayden Daniels, two first round receivers like Nabers and Thomas, and didn't add much to the defense, and someone try making them out to be better than last year.
They've recruited well in the high school ranks, but their defense was atrocious last year and done nothing in the portal to address the talent gap. Kelly not supplementing enough with the portal is going to come back to bite him starting this year.
I think the name on the jersey has people just assuming they're going to just keep the train going despite losing playmaker talent overall.
Also, I think the bowl game is skewing a lot of views on this too. Wisconsin was 7-6 and lost to Indiana and Washington State. Not a good team last year, and Wisconsin still racked up a ton of yards on them.
Their schedule is very manageable, but I won't be shocked at all if they lose against USC and South Carolina to start the year.
Imagine any other school loses a Heisman dynamic player like Jayden Daniels, two first round receivers like Nabers and Thomas, and didn't add much to the defense, and someone try making them out to be better than last year.
They've recruited well in the high school ranks, but their defense was atrocious last year and done nothing in the portal to address the talent gap. Kelly not supplementing enough with the portal is going to come back to bite him starting this year.
I think the name on the jersey has people just assuming they're going to just keep the train going despite losing playmaker talent overall.
Also, I think the bowl game is skewing a lot of views on this too. Wisconsin was 7-6 and lost to Indiana and Washington State. Not a good team last year, and Wisconsin still racked up a ton of yards on them.
Their schedule is very manageable, but I won't be shocked at all if they lose against USC and South Carolina to start the year.