Greg McElroy labels his preseason LSU ranking ‘dumb’

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy was really high on LSU coming into the 2023 season. He had the Tigers ranked as his preseason No. 5 team in the country.

As he explained on a recent episode of Always College Football with Greg McElroy, that was a dumb idea.

“Even I, as someone that really prides myself on trying to be as accurate as possible, I got this one way wrong,” McElroy said. “The sick part is I took Florida State in the first game of the year. So how can I even justify having LSU at number five? Either way, I digress. LSU, if I were to re-rank them right now, I would not have them in the top 25. You can say, they’re scoring a million points. That’s awesome. That’s great.”

The Tigers are 3-2 on the season with losses to Florida State and Ole Miss. They are the only team ranked in the AP Poll to have two losses on the year through the first five weeks.

The defense has been a particular point of concern. In their two losses, they have allowed 100 points.

“The biggest question mark for LSU is still the secondary,” McElroy said. “The secondary, to me right now, is a massive liability and I don’t think it’s going to get a whole lot easier against Bama, against Texas A&M, against some of the other teams are gonna face. How about Missouri this week. That’s a tricky game. One that they could very easily lose. Missouri’s quarterback, wide receivers playing great this week. So LSU at number five in the preseason was dumb.”

It goes beyond just thinking that the Tigers were a preseason top-five team. McElroy had them pegged as College Football Playoff contenders.

They are all put eliminated before the calendar flipped to March.

“I thought LSU was a legit playoff contender,” McElroy said. “I did. I thought Brian Kelly, Year 2. You got a quarterback returning. You got weapons all over the field offensively. Everyone on the offensive line that that played at a high level last year is back. There is no way this team should take steps back whatsoever. That should not happen. What I did not account for was the strong leadership that was on the team last year and knowing that some of that leadership graduated and has, I don’t want to say damaged the culture if you will, but their presence is noticeably absent.”

LSU, like all SEC West teams, has a difficult schedule the rest of the season. The Tigers still have to play Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M.

Even traditionally easier matchups could be difficult. This weekend against Missouri is a prime example. They are 5-0 with a dynamic offense that includes a standout wide receiver in Luther Burden.

“There are such significant question marks in the secondary for LSU that to think that they were just going to be able to bring in four new corners and those guys are all going to play really, really well to the point where you have them in the top five in the preseason — that was taking way too much of a riskr,” McElroy said. “I should have been able to assess the challenges that that might entail and how collectively could potentially have a real negative impact on the team.”