What the coaches poll tells us about LSU football expectations

The college football coaches poll was released on Monday and featured very few surprises. However, their rankings shed light on LSU football expectations.

LSU football fans have witnessed numerous media polls distributed throughout the preseason. The SEC preseason media poll suggested LSU will finish 2nd in the SEC West behind Alabama. More recently, ESPN published their top 25 college football rankings in which the Tigers ranked fourth, behind Georgia and ahead of Texas.

However, the preseason poll fans look forward to is the coaches’ poll because the coaches are the subject matter experts. The coaches watch film for a living and sacrifice sleep to study their opponents. As such, the experts have spoken for the first time in 2023.

LSU football is ranked 5th, behind Ohio State and ahead of USC, in the preseason cut of the AFCA Coaches Poll.

The Tigers received 1294 points, a sizable difference from the Buckeyes’ 1485 points. As such, the coaches suggest there’s a preseason gap between the top 4 teams and the rest of college football.

The coaches’ top four also include No. 1 Georgia (1643), No. 2 Michigan (1510), and No. 3 Alabama (1489).

In preseason rankings, LSU football staring up at the Crimson Tide is a continuing trend. One might assume voters would favor the Tigers because of their 2022 win over Alabama and continuity at head coach, coordinators, and starting quarterback. However, the media and coaches are not ready to predict that the SEC West climate has shifted toward Death Valley.

Conversely, college coaches ranking LSU in the top five indicates that the Tigers are well within the hunt and expected to compete for a College Football Playoff spot.

It’s also fair to assume Alabama remains the SEC West favorite because Nick Saban is a proven master at reinventing his program the minute we think it’s declining.