Athlon Sports has Tigers ranked 11
 

Said we will be 2nd in the SEC West behind Auburn. Laran Landry first team all American and first team all conference. Said our secondary is number one in the nation, and our, well heel read it for yourself:

Football Ranked No. 11 Preseason by Athlon Sports
Courtesy: LSU Interactive
Release: 05/16/2006


BATON ROUGE -- The first of many preseason football publications has hit the newsstand and Athlon Sports has tabbed LSU as the nation's No. 11-ranked team heading into the 2006 season.

Tiger quarterback JaMarcus Russell is featured on the regional issue that is being distributed throughout the southeastern portion of the United States.

The Tigers, who are coming off an 11-2 season a year ago under Les Miles, are picked to finish second in the Southeastern Conference Western Division by Athlon.

Other predictions for Athlon Sports has LSU senior LaRon Landry being named a first-team All-America as well as first-team All-SEC.


Will Arnold, a returning starter at offensive guard, and Chase Pittman, the lone returning starter on the defensive front, are both preseason first-team All-SEC picks. Russell, along with wide receiver Craig Davis, linebacker Ali Highsmith and strong safety Jessie Daniels, are second-team All-SEC.

Athlon Sports has tabbed the Tiger defensive backs as the nation's No. 1 unit, while the LSU receivers are ranked No. 1 in the SEC.

http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle...&ATCLID=281006

From Athlon:

LSU aims for return trip to SEC title game
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Athlon Sports
Published: May 15, 2006 - 5:10am
No. 11 LSU

The last two games LSU played were both in the Georgia Dome, and neither one was a close game. Georgia thumped the Tigers 34–14 in the SEC Championship Game, then first-year coach Les Miles’ squad responded with a 40–3 demolition of Miami in the Peach Bowl.

The victory over the Hurricanes was accomplished with backup Matt Flynn subbing for injured starter JaMarcus Russell at quarterback. Russell still enters 2006 as the starter after completing 61 percent of his passes for 2,443 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. But the quarterback situation is a healthy one after Flynn was 13-of-22 for 196 yards and ran for 39 more yards, earning game MVP honors with his performance against the Miami defense.

Leading rusher Joseph Addai must be replaced, but Alley Broussard, who ran for 867 yards and 10 scores in ’04, and Justin Vincent are familiar names. They will keep the ground game rolling along if their knees hold up. If not, freshman Keiland Williams will get a shot.

The receiving corps is the jewel of the LSU offense. Dwayne Bowe averaged 17.3 yards on 41 receptions with nine touchdowns last fall, and is the leader of a group that includes other long-ball threats such as Craig Davis and Early Doucet.

The Tigers have sustained serious graduation hits on both lines, but the replacements always seem to be there. Claude Wroten and Kyle Williams both were first-team All-SEC defensive tackles a year ago and are now drawing paychecks in the NFL.

There are no better defensive secondaries than LSU’s, with LaRon Landry back for his fourth year at free safety headlining the group.
The SEC West could be settled early with LSU’s trip to Auburn on Sept. 16. The Florida game in early October is also on the road, as is a November matchup with Tennessee.

Athlon's Pick: Second in the SEC West

Returning starters
4 offense, 5 defense, dual-purpose kicker

Access denied
LSU finished the 2005 season ranked third in the nation in scoring defense (14.2 ppg).

Almost a hundred
The Tigers’ minus-.69 turnover margin last season ranked 99th nationally.

Three-down territory
LSU finished second in Division I-A last fall in third down defense, allowing opponents a mere 28.2-percent conversion rate.

2006 Schedule
S. 2 Louisiana-Lafayette
S. 9 Arizona
S. 16 at Auburn
S. 23 Tulane
S. 30 Mississippi State
O. 7 at Florida
O. 14 Kentucky
O. 21 Fresno State
N. 4 at Tennessee
N. 11 Alabama
N. 18 Ole Miss
N. 25 #Arkansas
#Little Rock, AR


2005 Results (11–2, 7–1 SEC)
S. 10 at Arizona State W 35–31
S. 26 Tennessee L 27–30 (ot)
O. 1 at Miss. State W 37– 7
O. 8 at Vanderbilt W 34– 6
O. 15 Florida W 21–17
O. 22 Auburn W 20–17
O. 29 North Texas W 56– 3
N. 5 Appalachian St. W 24– 0
N. 12 at Alabama W 16–13 (ot)
N. 19 at Ole Miss W 40– 7
N. 25 Arkansas W 19–17
D. 3 %Georgia L 14–34
D. 30 #Miami W 40-3
%SEC Championship
#Peach Bowl

http://www.athlonsports.com/college-...00&SPSID=27815

RE: Athlon Sports has Tigers ranked 11
 

Those idiots also have Oklahoma at #1, Florida at #5, & Cal at #8. Give me a break!

RE: Athlon Sports has Tigers ranked 11
 

#11? Oh, just add a 1 next to the Buckeyes ranking! For all of you LSU fans...I said "next to"!

RE: Athlon Sports has Tigers ranked 11
 

Dude.....get a grip. We're #6, Auburn's #3, Florida's #7, & Tennessee's #10. Where are the rest of the Big Ten's teams? Don't come on a Louisiana based website bashing Louisiana sports. Some of the best players at their positions in the NFL are from Louisiana (QB-Peyton Manning, S-Ed Reed, CB-Patrick Surtain, etc.....). We will see come January whose pimping the crystal football. I'll leave it at that.

Tennessee is #10?



8)

My bad, Tally.....that's Georgia (another SEC team) that's ranked #10. Tennessee is # 13. So that would be 5 SEC teams in the top 13, right? There are only 3 other Big Ten teams in the top 25 (Michigan at #11, Iowa at #16, & overrated Penn State at #25 w/ a 1-1 record).

dude, does anybody acknowledge #2? Who was ranked #2 in 1999? You don't remember, and neither does anyone else! Why? because it doesn't matter. #1 is all that matters and nobody remembers #2,#3 etc. Actually, I'm not a big ten fan so I could care less! I'm a OSU Buckeye fan. Sorry that you southern folk don't get to experience quality football. It's kind of a trade-off though. We get to have the National Champs...You guys get warm weather year around! I guess there are pro's and con's no matter were you live. I will take the national champs along with the snow! Good luck...You should be proud of being a top ten team...really, not everyone can stand on top of the mountain! Only one stands there and looks down on the rest......