Where LSU Football lands in spring SEC power rankings

LSU football concluded a mostly uneventful spring practice last weekend with the program’s annual spring game.

An uneventful spring practice is a good thing for the Tigers.

Nothing crazy going on. No major injuries. Just a lot of hard work and progress. That’s what all programs want during spring practice.

Now that spring practice is coming to an end for all of the programs in the SEC, it’s time to take a look at how the 14 teams in the conference stack up to each other as we head into the dormant summer months.

Who is the team to beat? Who has a lot to prove? Where does LSU stand?

All of those answers and more are in our post-spring SEC power rankings below!

14. Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt pretty much hit rock bottom in 2020. The Commodores went 0-9 and fired head coach Derek Mason. Vandy replaced Mason with Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea, a Nashville native who has a great reputation in coaching circles. Lea has the potential to have moderate success at Vanderbilt, but the program has a long way to go. It’s not easy to win at Vandy, so Lea certainly has his work cut out for him in the coming years.

13. South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina waited a year too long to fire Will Muschamp. The Gamecocks went 4-8 in 2019 under Muschamp. The only reason the program didn’t make a change was because of South Carolina’s surprising win against a really good Georgia team. Most folks knew the Gamecocks were going nowhere with Muschamp leading the charge. It wasn’t a matter of “if” Muschamp would be fired, it was “when”. South Carolina made the move near the end of the 2020 season. New head coach Shane Beamer, a first-time head coach, knows the SEC well, and he comes from a great coaching tree (he’s coached under Phillip Fulmer, Steve Spurrier, Kirby Smart, and Lincoln Riley, and is the son of Frank Beamer). But being a first-time head coach in the SEC can be a challenge.

12. Tennessee Volunteers

Another program that essentially hit rock bottom in 2020 was Tennessee. The Vols went 3-7 in Jeremy Pruitt’s third season. Pruitt was likely coming back for a fourth season, but a bizarre recruiting scandal meant Tennessee had to fire Pruitt in January, well after most head coaching changes usually happen in the SEC. Former UCF head coach Josh Heupel was hired to replace Pruitt. Heupel is an offensive-minded head coach who has had a lot of success in his career, but he takes over a roster that is thin at several key positions.

11. Arkansas Razorbacks

I really like Arkansas and Sam Pittman. I think the Razorbacks have the potential to be a really solid program with Pittman in charge. But unfortunately for Arkansas, the program plays in the toughest division in college sports. Going head to head with juggernaut programs like Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M every year puts a low ceiling on the success that’s possible at Arkansas. Still, I think the Razorbacks are going to be a tough game every week for whoever they play.