It has been a while since the boys from the Bayou have legitimately been National Championship contenders.
This year though, the LSU Tigers could be back with vengeance, as they have a whopping 17 starters returning from a team which went 8-5 a campaign ago.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/5: vs. McNeese State
9/12: at Mississippi State
9/19: vs. Auburn
9/26: at Syracuse
10/3: vs. Eastern Michigan
10/10: at South Carolina
10/17: vs. Florida
10/24: vs. Western Kentucky
11/7: at Alabama
11/14: vs. Arkansas
11/21: at Ole Miss
11/28: vs. Texas A&M
The schedule is relatively thin by SEC standards for LSU this year. The Bayou Bengals don't really have a ridiculously tough game outside of the duel at Alabama on November 7, and the other really tough games all seem to be played at home. The non-conference schedule is horrible as it usually is for the Tigers, as Les Miles has his sights set on reaching the four-team playoff this year for the first time.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
LSU's season win total is just eight, and that feels somewhat light to us. One would think that there are at least four complete slam dunks on the docket out of conference, and that basically leaves the team needing four wins to push and five to win in the SEC. Yes, the SEC West is a meat grinder, but would it really be stunning to see a team with 17 returning starters go 11-1 this year?
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Anthony Jennings is really going to have to show some improvement this year if the Tigers are going to be playoff contenders. He's got a great running game and offensive line to work with, but he must complete more than 48.9 percent of his passes to be effective and take the Tigers to the next level.
Keep in mind though, that Leonard Fournette should get more carries this season, though the LSU backfield will once again be split a number of ways to keep the guys fresh. Travin Dural is back as well in the receiving game after a year in which he averaged 20.5 yards per catch and had seven scores.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
The Tigers held teams to just 17.5 points per game last season, and nine of the 11 who started on that side of the ball are back. This linebacking corps, headed up by Kwon Alexander might be the best in the SEC, and that's really saying something.
Jalen Collins and Tre'Davious White are both NFL prospects in the secondary, which is why it is just so darn hard to throw the football against this team.
SEASON PREDICTION
LSU has some great value here as we see it. The team is +2650 to win the National Championship and +550 just to get into the four-team playoff. The SEC West is still very good, though we don't think it is quite as strong as it has been in season's past.
That said, SEC bias is still going to be there. If this team goes 11-1 in the regular season and either wins the SEC title or ends up not playing in the title game because it was beaten by Alabama in Tuscaloosa (or Auburn at home early in the year), we just don't see how it would be left out.
Still, Jennings is the key, and he's a scary quarterback to bet on. Les Miles has won with worse in the past though, which is why he is never a man to count out.
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