It is always good to end the regular season at home with a win but it does not indicate the direction the team will take in the future, nor is it a portend of what next season's team will look like. LSU started the season ranked in the top 10 of the preseason poll and many local sports writers thought the team had a chance to make the playoffs with the new expansion of 12 teams. But the regular season ended with LSU being shut out of the playoffs and the top 20 poll teams.
And along the way, LSU fans experienced the ups and downs of a team where the coaches appeared to lose control. LSU played eight SEC opponents and had a record of 5-3. Along the way they defeated only two SEC teams with a winning record within the SEC, South Carolina and Ole Miss. They completed the regular season by beating only two teams with a winning record also, those same two teams. They completed the regular season with a 8-4 winning record.
How do those numbers along with the fact that the season saw LSU's won-loss record regress from last season and how no progress has been made on the issue in the last three seasons. This writer believes coaching along with the Portal, NIL and compensation for players are the big reasons. LSU has never recovered from the 2019 season when they went undefeated and won it all. At the beginning of the season, local sports writers thought LSU would make the expanded playoffs, but lost sight of the fact that the Tigers have fallen behind several other SEC teams since 2019. Because of factors expressed in previous commentary, this writer predicted LSU should be rated as a "wait and see team" for the season and that is the way it turned out.
No one in sports seems to want to talk about it, but college football, thanks to the Portal, NIL and the influence of money out in the open, college football now has "Free Agency" just like the NFL and that is a HUGE MISTAKE. Players no longer have any commitment to their school or team. What a shame for college sports.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
