LSU football ranked seventh after drubbing of New Mexico

LSU football has gotten off to a 3-1 start to the season. Many didn’t know what to expect of the Tigers coming into the year, but recent victories have reassured the faithful in Baton Rouge that their team is in safe hands with Brian Kelly.

The Notre Dame legend has led the Bayou Bengals to three consecutive wins after a disappointing defeat to Florida State during Week 1. LSU has looked incredibly impressive during these victories over Southern, Mississippi State and New Mexico respectively. But the Tigers still aren’t getting the credit they deserve from AP Poll voters. Another college football team strength ranking system has LSU sitting pretty at No. 7 in the country though.

LSU football ranked seventh after the recent drubbing of New Mexico

Whereas the AP Top 25 voters refuse to rank the Tigers—despite three straight wins and a “good loss” on their resume—ESPN’s Football Power Index doesn’t have any biases. The completely computer-based rankings have LSU as one of the country’s top teams, behind only Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Clemson and Texas.

The Bayou Bengals moved up five spots to No. 7 after their 38-0 thrashing of New Mexico on Saturday. LSU’s defense put up some incredible statistics as they shut out the Lobos. Meanwhile, the offense put its versatility on full display for the world to see. The impressive performance on both sides of the ball undoubtedly contributed to Kelly’s men jumping in the FPI.

For those who aren’t familiar with ESPN’s FPI, it measures “a team’s true strength on net points scale; expected point margin vs average opponent on a neutral field.” It’s not so much a ranking system as it is a system used to predict outcomes in the future.

It goes without saying, nobody actually believes the Tigers are a Top 10 team in the country at this moment in time. A couple more wins could see Kelly’s squad enter into discussions, but three wins over the aforementioned opponents don’t warrant a Top 10 ranking.

Regardless, LSU can only beat the teams put in front of it. Aside from a fluke one-point swing on opening night against a very good Florida State team, the Bayou Bengals have been great this season. The eye test has shown thus far that LSU is undoubtedly a Top 25 team, especially after the way it dispatched Mississippi State a couple of weeks ago with relative ease. The true tests are still ahead with teams such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M remaining on the schedule.

It’s just nice to see somebody—or, in this case, something—giving the Tigers some well-deserved credit at this point of the season.