Over the next 30 “business days”, I will be counting down my top 30 for the 2009 College Football season. After hours of studying game film, breaking it down matchup by matchup, and predicting upsets, I’ve come up with the teams I believe will be the 30 best in the country by season’s end. Will your team be included? (Hint: If you prefer Tennessee, No.) Headin’ down to Louisiana.

30. Iowa Hawkeyes
29. Oregon State Beavers
28. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
27. Nebraska Cornhuskers
26. Kansas Jayhawks
25. North Carolina Tarheels
24. USF Bulls
23. Michigan State Spartans
22. UCLA Bruins
21. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
20. FSU Seminoles
19. TCU Horned Frogs
18. Illinois Fightin’ Illini
17. BYU Cougars
16. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
15. Oklahoma State Cowboys
14. Georgia Bulldogs

The Story: LSU fans are now expecting National Championships almost every season, so last year’s 8-5 record had to be disappointing. Coming off the 2007 championship, LSU knew they were replacing a lot of key players; the big question was how quickly would they reload? After a couple devastating losses, they looked like they got their groove back against a pretty good Georgia Tech team to end the season. There is too much talent in Baton Rouge and LSU will be a contender in the loaded SEC West this year.

The Glaring Stat: 18. Number of interceptions their quarterbacks threw.

The Outlook: In 2008, a lot of LSU’s problems came from the quarterback position, particularly turning the ball over. It seemed like in every LSU loss, the games were manageable until about halftime, when the turnovers would start and continue on and on and on. Jordan Jefferson seems to be the clear leader to start at the position this year, he is a bigger quarterback at 6′4″ with a pretty good rushing ability. And while he didn’t have many turnovers last season, the biggest problem was his accuracy. If he falters, top recruit Russell Shepard is right there to take his spot.

Brandon LaFell (In French that means TheFell) is probably going to be a first rounder next April. He needs a second receiver to emerge and replace what he will lose with Demetrius Byrd’s departure. Truthfully, I don’t think there will be much of a problem. LSU has always been able to line up three or four guys each year that have hands, speed, and the wits to help the quarterbacks.

To say the defense was disappointing in ‘08 would be an understatement. It just seemed like they played on their heels more than an LSU defense should, and it allowed high octane offenses to just put it to them. Don’t blame the secondary for this problem though. They were left exposed because the front seven couldn’t get pressure on most of the teams they faced…including Troy. The d-line should be much better with a year under their belts though, because frankly, they replaced some pretty big names in LSU lore. Linebacker Perry Riley was a beast against the often confusing flex-option of Georgia Tech; if he can carry that over he should be an absolute beast for the Tigers.

What LSU does well with receivers, they do even better at defensive back. Patrick Peterson came on late in his freshman season and finished the year as the starter. It comes down to the front seven again. More pressure = better secondary. These guys have the talent, but when the quarterback has all day, no one really has a chance to be successful.

The Schedule:
9-5-09 at Washington
9-12-09 VANDERBILT
9-19-09 LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
9-26-09 at Mississippi State
10-3-09 at Georgia
10-10-09 FLORIDA
10-24-09 AUBURN
10-31-09 TULANE
11-7-09 at Alabama
11-14-09 LOUISIANA TECH
11-21-09 at Mississippi
11-28-09 ARKANSAS

Out-of-conference, LSU’s slate is pretty soft. Washington is still in the dumps, but you have to understand that when this game was probably signed, Washington was still pretty tough. The rest of the out of conference involves in-state opponents that stand no chance against the Tigers.

In-conference is where it gets tough. Playing at Georgia and against Florida in back-to-back weeks will surely test this team much more than the first four weeks. Then in November, going to Alabama and Mississippi? And, you can’t forget Arkansas either.

They’re still too questionable at quarterback to think they’re going to be any better than this right now. They should clean up the out-of-conference schedule, while taking care of the bottom of the SEC. That being said, this team is too good not to nail someone this year, maybe even two someones. 

GatorTrey is a contributor to SpartyandFriends.com. He can be reached at GatorTrey (at) spartyandfriends.com as well as on twitter @jflynn05.

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