SEC Power Rankings for 2018 college football preseason

My lack of faith in Ed Orgeron has me projecting the LSU Tigers to be a lot worse this year. However, that’s premature, and as we keep saying, these SEC Power Rankings are based on how a team most recently played combined with any offseason drama.

Looking at how the LSU Tigers most recently played, they barely lost their bowl game to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. But like the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they won six of their final eight games, and their only losses were that bowl game and to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

As a result, the Tigers have a lot of excitement heading into this season. Overall, that was a strong finish to the season in 2017. Now, it’s a make or break year for Orgeron, who does have a ton of talent. The continuity at coaching, though, is what keeps LSU ahead of Mississippi State for now despite the questions. My personal projections on Orgeron are irrelevant for these rankings.

Still, the Tigers have to be at No. 5 because they finished third in the SEC West alone and did lose their most recent game. So they have a lot to prove this year, as does their head coach. That leaves things up in the air.

Things will change immediately for this team, though. We will have a good idea of where they stand right out of the gate, when they face the Miami Hurricanes Sunday night. Should they win, they’ll shoot up these rankings. Lucky for them, a loss won’t do much as long as they don’t get blown out.